Now that I’ve been home for a few weeks, I’ve been enjoying photographing my backyard birds. I find it relaxing as well as rewarding. Red and Mrs. stop by several times every day. I think I have another male cardinal, too. At first I thought it was Red, but this guy is a little chunkier and has a dark gray spot on his beak.

How can I be sure if there’s another male, because Red and the other guy are never in the backyard at the same time. Last spring, I saw two red Cardinals chasing each other, flying at full speed over our house. That’s the only time I saw two males together.

This one is definitely Red. See there’s not a gray mark on his beak. The photo below is the imposter Red. Or, it might be Red with a bruised beak. My first few days home, I took photos of this guy, thinking it was my Red.

Here’s Mrs. on a planter at the edge of our fence.

I was pleasantly surprised with this finch photo because of the sharp detail on the barrel cactus.

The birds love their perch on a flamingo.

Here’s a view looking out the casita window with my telephoto lens set at 80mm instead of 400mm I use for closeups of critters.

I haven’t seen the cardinal with the gray spot on his beak lately. So that brings the questions of the day:

Do you think I had an imposter Red? Or, did Red bruise his beak and now it’s healed?

What’s your opinion and why?