Last Saturday Poppa cardinal brought one of the fledglings from his first clutch with him to the feeding station. I hadn’t seen this little guy before, but I suspect he had been coming for a little while because he was past the point of asking Poppa to feed him. He watched me very closely while I put out the day’s offerings, and was pretty quickly out of the tree and into the feed. He was eating with such gusto that at times he had bits of seeds stuck on his beak and falling out of his mouth. Poppa was a little more wary, keeping an eye out to make sure the youngster was safe. He didn’t come down until Junior had finished pigging out. Even then he seemed more cautious than usual. He has always been a good, protective father and mate.