finally!

It's taken nearly 7 years of living here to see (much less photograph) a female Northern Cardinal at my backyard feeder.

Cardinals were our year-round backyard companions when we lived in Virginia. But even though our Phoenix NFL team is named for them, we've rarely glimpsed them here at our edge of the desert foothills.

So yesterday afternoon, I could hardly believe my eyes when this little lady appeared. She sampled from both the peanut and sunflower feeders, enjoyed some rest in the shade in the bougainvillea, and eventually flew away.

Sure hope she'll be back.