Northern cardinal

Description:

This is a beautiful female with reddish wings and tail and a reddish-orange bill. The male is a bright red all over except for a black face.

Habitat:

These birds inhabit most of the Eastern U. S., much of the Midwest, and south into central and eastern Mexico.

Notes:

The cardinal is the state bird of Virginia. This siting was yet another reward for sitting patiently on my dock with my first cup of coffee in hand. Shortly after my arrival, this female landed on a tree across from the finger of the lake on which I reside and sat still for several minutes in different poses as if on payroll.