As of today I have a new nutty buddy at Council Point Park.
I don’t think Parker, nor his furry friends, will be too awfully upset or jealous; after all, just how many peanuts can one cardinal eat anyway?
You’ll recall in yesterday’s blog post, in between whining about the sparrows and robins, that I mentioned seeing a beautiful cardinal on my walk. That cardinal was sitting on a low branch, and, I stopped short of taking its picture since it would take too long to put away the peanuts, dig for the camera and take the shot.
But, from his perch in the tree, that male cardinal watched me feeding the squirrels and he took notice.
Today, in the same location, once again I was dispensing peanuts to the squirrels, when the cardinal suddenly appeared on that low branch again. I said “wait a minute … here, have a peanut or something, I want to take your picture.” So, on a whim, I tossed out a few peanuts to the side of the asphalt path, hoping they would interest him. I know blue jays love peanuts, but I thought cardinals were more into sunflower seeds. Evidently not.
First, that beautiful bird hopped down …
… then ambled toward the first peanut.
He cracked open the shell, getting peanut chaff on that orangey-red bill. He stayed put long enough for me to get a few photos, then he was done posing and took the remaining peanut “to go” and flew away.
I know this cardinal will be watching for me tomorrow and thereafter. Once you feed a wild animal or bird just one time, and it knows you mean them no harm, they are your pal. We’ll establish a routine if possible.
Of course the squirrels, my original nutty buddies, were out and about as well. I got a few photos of them enjoying their peanuts. Here’s one of Parker:
Like the cardinal, the squirrels often take their peanut “to go” and I am amused, when they grab it from the ground, scale the tree, and sit on a branch munchin’ away. All this effort to eat ONE peanut in peace.
Then they run down the tree again for another peanut.
Sometimes you get a two-fer … one squirrel in the tree; one on the ground.
I walked around the entire Park once, then the first loop one more time. At one point in the walk, I felt a presence behind me. I turned around and three squirrels were trailing at my heels. I was sure I had fed them already the first time around, but I jollied along like it was the first time I saw them today. I tossed out a few peanuts so they scampered right over.
Sometimes they hide their goodies. Do they think I am blind to seeing this sight as I stroll along the trail?
The sunny morning more than made up for the chilly temperatures. It was about 26 degrees when I left the house. Very few portions of the Ecorse Creek had a light skim of ice, yet the ducks and geese were scarce. The heron has been at large for several weeks now, so it was those peanut-loving squirrels and cardinal which gave me a smile during today’s five-mile walk. Yup, a peanut here or there and soon you’ve got a feathered or furry friend for life.
My Park pals reminded me of years ago and two retired male neighbors who lived across the street. The first gentleman, Gerry, was stuck in the rut of too many years of getting up early. He retired mid-Summer, so he’d take his cup of coffee and sat out on the front porch to read the morning newspaper. I’d see him every morning when I left for work. There was one squirrel hanging around on that first day of retirement bliss, so Gerry went inside and got some cookies for him. This soon became a morning ritual, but, if it rained, or Gerry decided to sleep in, when he finally stepped outside to fetch the newspaper, there was the squirrel pacing back and forth on the cement ledge in front of the picture window, wearing a perturbed look. Then, Gerry’s next-door neighbor retired and Andy liked to tinker in his wood shop that was in the garage. An inquisitive squirrel meandered in there one day, so Andy went into the house and got a treat for him. From that day forward, that squirrel came by every morning. He’d plant himself by the garage side door waiting until Andy came out of the house and headed to the garage, then he’d scamper over to meet him at the garage door. For both retirees, a relationship between man and beast began and lasted many more years.
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
I enjoy your stories of people interacting with animals. There was a cardinal on my deck today, checking out the seeds I’d put out.
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Thanks Anne – I think that cardinal will be back again. I had a female cardinal in my yard decades ago … it had a nest in the nearby barberry bushes. Every night when I came home from work, I gave it a small Dixie cup full of safflower seeds, just for her – no other birds. I’d pour them in a pile and she’d eat them. I’d go in the house and watched from my mom’s bedroom window. I wouldn’t mind getting a small bag of sunflower seeds to take some for this bird every day, but if he likes peanuts, I always have those. They are beautiful birds, even the females with their duller plumage.
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Gorgeous pics linda. Sounds like a fab walk !
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Thanks Michael – I may have a new mouth to feed at the Park. Still cold here but the sun was out making it a bright and beautiful day for a walk. I am nearing 150 miles and should get there today or tomorrow.
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Wow that’s impressive !
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Thanks Michael – I did make it to 150, actually 151 so have 900 more miles to beat last year’s miles walked … 1,050 is a lot of miles and I did it last year as we had a mild Winter in January-February of 2017, unlike this Winter that did not quit.
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Im sure you’ll get close! U seem rather determined 🙂
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reminds me a little bit about the books from my childhood 🙂 love the style and the photo 🙂
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I’m so sorry, this message went to my SPAM folder … I have never had “real” messages go to SPAM before, and a fellow blogger mentioned having some comments in her SPAM, so I came to look and found three. Yikes! My apologies as I always answer comments. Thank you for saying that … I have had luck with the squirrels when taking their pictures because I carry the peanuts in a plastic Ziploc bag. I’ve been walking at this Park for five years, so they are used to seeing me (and their treats). If I don’t see them right away, or they are up in a tree, I jiggle the bag and they come to ground level so quickly, they are a blur. As I was walking that morning, I decided the squirrels only would be the post, and then the cardinal came along. I was excited that he didn’t move too much. Took five pictures and I think I used four of them. Glad you liked it and I try to do a narrative and pictures on the weekends, especially now that the weather is better (at least I think it is better – better than all Winter anyway!)
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No problems:) it happened with me before couple of time too 🙂 I check it once a week, the spam folder, because sometimes normal comments can be found there too 😂
And I guess we can say you become the friend to the squirrel and that bird 🐦 😃☀️they see u so often!
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I always did check once a week and it was usually just junk spams and I overlooked it this time … I won’t do that again! I think those squirrels and birds do grow to trust you after a while.
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I guess u r right about the trust.. 🙂 the birds in my yard seems like me too 🙂 maybe bcz I always feed them nuts 🥜 😂
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Parker and friends look fat and healthy after a long Winter spell,
thanks to their adopted mother (or, perhaps, sister) Linda Schaub. 😉
Additional appreciation comes from an exceptionally colorful Cardinal,
who found it much to difficult to refrain from indulging himself on treats
normally reserved for the congregation of nutty buddies.
Nice shots! Happy Sunday to you!
Best wishes on your long walk regimen. March on! UT
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Yes, don’t they look fat? Considering the size of a peanut, I don’t know how they got to be so big. There are three men who also feed the squirrels at that Park and they arrive there after me. Sometimes I see them on the weekend when I go there later, especially on Sundays I arrive later as it is usually deserted first thing in the morning. One side, where most of the “wild life” is, is more dense … so I am just being careful.
No male cardinal this morning which surprised me as I thought he was in tune with me, but, I did leave later, and today there was a female cardinal in the same place …. tried to coax her down but she was shy and started tweeting and chirping at me, but stayed put. I’ll work on both of them. Glad you liked the shots.
I have arrived at 151 miles today … walked six miles, uploading a few photos and back to write a post later.
Was this your last weekend for working Saturdays, since next week is the holiday weekend?
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Yes, it was, Linda. No more mandatory Saturdays scheduled at this time. Good Friday is a paid holiday, and 3 days off in a row sounds dreamy. Hope it’s true.
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Good deal – three days off does sound good and hopefully the weather cooperates.
I got the new domain (.com) name for my blog this week (walkinwritinwitwhimsy.com) and I’ve been noodling around and tweaking it a bit. I was apprehensive, I might make a false move and wipe out something. When I was new here at WordPress, I always used a quote at the end of my post and did it in italics. Then one day I left in a stray italics code and all my blog text was in italics. I could not find the missing code and had to ask for help from a Happiness Engineer, who, of course, found that code instantly. I no longer use italics – once burned, twice shy. Put in a photo gallery of favorite pics for kicks … have to add more close-ups in 2018.
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I do like the side-widget pics. 🙂 Spruced it up a bit.
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Thanks – it needed something – it was looking blah, now it’s a little more colorful.
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It certainly is. My turn to share one 🙂
https://skip22037.com/
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I am still perusing this site Uncle Tree and you are right – I love it. Look at those gorgeous up-close birds and I wish I was walking on that trail. I missed out this morning – pouring like no tomorrow and snow in the forecast as you just read as I see you liked today’s post just this instant.
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Glad you liked that view. Her shots are very good.
Our forecast for Easter is much as your –dismal. Sheesh…
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Yes, very nice and close-up and peaceful looking trail as well. It’s been so beautiful all this time and Easter weekend always seems to end up with one dismal day, but this forecast is the pits. If you look on the comments for this post, do check out a comment by Tom and his site. His writing will appeal to you and he is interested in macro photography. You have to see some of his spiders. I hate spiders, but up close – so unusual looking, even comical. https://tom8pie.com/
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What a beautiful red cardinal….. just gorgeous.
x
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I thought of you Melanie as we just had the “conversation” about the cardinals.
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Ahhh, they are gorgeous looking birds.
x 💗 x
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Melanie – my mom collected cardinal and blue jay plates and figurines. So every time I see a cardinal or blue jay I think of my mom.
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That is just so precious… how lovely.
x
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Wonderful shots, Linda! 🙂
Peanuts are great for squirrels but don’t give them to birds. Even human-grade peanuts can often have Aspergillus that many birds are extremely vulnerable to. I never feed them to birds, and i especially don’t feed them to our two pet parrots. Sunflower seeds (and such) are fine for outdoor birds.
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Thanks Tom. I didn’t know that about the peanuts for the birds. I do get the jumbo Hampton Farms peanuts (salt free) that are for humans. I find they don’t crumble up and fall apart as easily and I don’t get my hands messy when I’m taking pictures. I will get some sunflower seeds then, next time I’m at the store. The male cardinal wasn’t there today, but a female cardinal was, but she was not interested in peanuts. I will tell my friend Ann Marie who has an Amazon Grey about the peanuts as I know she feeds them to her bird. I had canaries and parakeets in the past, and peanuts were too big to feed to them. My canaries loved toast and bagels … we used to share one every day.
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What a wonderful story! 😊 I can’t get enough of your tales about Parker and the other animals. I hope someday you’ll compile your blog posts to make a book or journal. Lots of love.♥️
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I do think about that and have saved all my pictures and text – hmmm. That’s be a nice way to sail into the sunset, wouldn’t it? I love the interactions with the animals in the Park – there will be more with the ducks and geese once the warmer weather gets here and when the goslings and ducklings arrive. Plus, this year for the first time ever, I got that recreation pass to get into state parks to see more little critters – I will be in my glory!
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WOW!!
Those are some really good pictures!!! Birds and Squirrels move so fast that I barely get to get a good look at them lol
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I’m so sorry, this message went to my SPAM folder … I have never had “real” messages go to SPAM before, and a fellow blogger mentioned having some comments in her SPAM, so I came to look and found three. Yikes! My apologies as I always answer comments. I am laughing when I read this because you see the end results in the pictures, not the 50+ that are just tails, noses or feet. The best pictures I get of squirrels is when I feed them and they sit there nicely and pose. That cardinal was sheer luck!
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Lol it’s okay! I’ve had that happen to me too!! Over the weekend actually!! No worries 🙂
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Well I feel better now when you said that. I felt like such a heel about it. That happened with three people, two on this post alone and one on my “About me” and the woman sent a message on March 23rd! I only checked after a new follower and I were chatting it up and she said “let’s continue this in an e-mail and off the blog” … I sent her my e-mail address on her Contact Me page twice and she said she never got it … then she found me in her SPAM folder – oops!
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Bless it Lord !! lol those spams can be such a hassle sometimes!!
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