A pair of Northern Cardinals enjoy the sun on a cool day, under a clear blue sky. They have been foraging on a deciduous holly ( also known as possum-haw) that I found along The Great River Road in Illinois. You can tell by the few remaining leaves on the possum-haw that it will not be long before winter comes, but for the moment they look like masters of all they survey, like royalty, high up atop a branch bejeweled with the bright red berries of this native tree.