The Cardinal I mentioned in the last post is still here. He (definitely male) has established a routine going from the awning arm by the window to the driver side mirror to the Jeep spare tire, hurling himself at his reflection in each location.
Here he is at rest for a moment on top of the mirror, preparing to assault the Jeep which is not visible in this picture just in front of him.
And here he is headed from the mirror to the awning having just bounced off the window I am looking through.
We have seen this kind of behavior before so I looked it up using Google, the search term I used was “cardinal hitting window” In short several bird species males are very territorial and will attempt to drive off any potential competitor during mating season. They desist when mating season is over. The Northern Cardinal’s territorial demands do not stop with the end of mating season. They are known to persist in this behavior so long as the “rival” is present. Other campers who have been here a while report that this bird has exhibited this behavior with every coach that has been on or near where we are.
I attempted to break the cycle by putting a plastic bag over the mirror. It sort of worked, he changed his route, bypassing the mirror, still landing on the Jeep spare tire and the awning arm and hitting the remaining reflective surfaces. Then he figured out that (saw?) that his mirror enemy was still there below where the bag covered and attacked the bottom of the mirror. I have chosen to give up and let him beat his brains out. At least he sleeps at night, or can’t see his rival, so we have peace after dark.