Today I spotted a female cardinal flying excitedly from the bottlebrush bush in front of our home. Upon inspection, I see a nicely made spanish moss and stick nest in the center of the tree. Now, if I can just get the kids to stop peeking at it so much and remove the cat from it's favorite spot beneath the bush, all will be well. The cat doesn't know about the bird, but we want to keep it that way. The females are a darker reddish brown, the male looks like the photo at the left.

This is such a beautiful time in Florida! Even though the calendar doesn't yet say Spring, the flowering plants are saying it to us. The glorious colors of the azaleas are everywhere! I highly recommend that anyone add these lovely plants to their yards for color and greenery year after year. There are also lovely varieties of native Florida azaleas like the wild pink azaleas shown below.