Lightning quick--I'm about to head out for Spanish.

Anyway, I was over by the window this morning, and I saw a female cardinal sitting on our porch railing. She was chirping away, and looking right at me. When she saw me, she flew over and perched on the outside of our railing.

I was pretty surprised, and began whistling to her. She chirped back some, and then flew to a different window. We had a 'conversation' for a few minutes, and then I had to do my math.

Later, Luthien came in from the garage, where she had been riding her bike, and said, "Guys, come
quick! There's a bird on my bike!"

"A bird?" We all sceptically asked, and I ran to get my camera.

Lo and behold, there was the same female cardinal, sitting on Luthien's bike. When she saw that the door leading into the house was open, she flew into the house and perched on my chair! Then she flew by my head and went in to the school-room.

By that time, we had all recovered our astonishment and Mom got the broom. We managed to shoo her out the door, and now I can hear her chirping away on our porch.

When we have an encounter with animals, we like to name them. So our female cardinal is now 'Opera'. We have a groundhog, a squirrel, and formerly a black snake all living around our house. I'll post about them later.

Izori