Cardinal

A lovesick cardinal is singing its heart out in the yard. If you're not familiar with the song, I recorded this the other day at Fairchild, where they could be heard all around the garden.

I took these photos last June of a pair that visited one of my feeders. Curiously, they alternated visits, never coming to the feeder together. Perhaps that was to ensure that one parent survived an unforseen attack.

Architectural plants

I am endlessly fascinated by the architecture of plants. Here are some examples, starting with a couple of shots of a silver gray Bismarckia noblis palm.

The next is a banana leaf unfurling.
















Then we have a silver gray bromeliad, but I don't know its name.

The final one is a cycad.