For the birds

My bedroom is on the northeast corner of the house. My bed is under the east window. I open it at night to let the cool air in. 

There is a TV antenna on the east side. It's a popular hangout for birds, particularly cardinals. 

They have such distinctive calls. I used to practice answering them when they would call again and again when I was outside at the Russell Street house. They didn't seem to mind that a human was trying to join in. They probably just viewed me as a foreigner trying to speak the language. I would tire of it and move on before they would. 

Now they sing as the sun is coming up. I hear many birds here, especially with the windows open in the early morning. But the proximity of the antenna means the cardinals come through loud and clear. 

I like watching the birds. They enjoy the suet feeder off the deck. They flit about. The male cardinals are pretty with their bright red plumage. Even a couple of hummers have been around, checking out the flowers, zooming over the ferns and creating a breeze like miniature helicopters. 

My grandmother liked watching birds. She kept binoculars and a bird book near her chair. She knew them by sight and song. I'm not that good. I know the more common ones: chickadees, crows, finches, grosbeaks, robins, blue jays. 

But there's something special about the cardinals.