No, that’s not a typo. For all you non-birders: Pishing is a sound a birder can make to bring birds closer. While holding your teeth closed, you say “pish” over and over and nosy birds will come in for a look-see.
I was ouside tonight getting this cool shot of a new fuscia cosmos in our “prairie” experiment.
(And I didn’t alter the photo at all. It looks like I ran it through Paint Shop, doesn’t it?)
While getting the above shot, I noticed a male cardinal nearby. So I started pishing. He came in closer, and it looked like he was eating. Leaning into the tangle, I saw that he wasn’t eating…
…He was feeding someone.
I couldn’t get very close, so I put the camera over the nest and shot this photo. It’s hard to see how many babies there are, but as far as I can tell, there are maybe four.
***Note to my loyal readers: I very nearly bled to death getting this shot for you. The nest was in the middle of multiflora rose, honeysuckle and a downy hawthorn. Know why it’s called “hawthorn“? Yep, full of thorns. I trimmed back as few branches as possible so as not to blow the cardinal’s cover. See the level of dedication I have for you?
Susan Gets Native 