northern cardinal

Tag

By Classy … not quite yet

The male northern cardinal tries hard to look quite classy at all times. However, as you can see here, he is very disheveled. Molt, the normal replacement of feathers, in cardinals occurs in late summer. His only way foreword is to preen and wait for the new feathers to appear. Soon he will again be crimson elegant, beak to tail.

By Jordan Lake Dam: June Flight Jamboree 06-02-2019
Jordan Lake Dam: June Flight Jamboree!!
Sunday morning was cool and bright. All the feathers in flight glittered with life.
Parent birds. Juveniles. Big birds and small ones.

 

1) Northern Cardinal, male juvenile
2) Blue Grosbeak
3) Common Grackle
4) Brown-headed Cowbird
5) Fish Crow
6) Great Crested Flycatchers, juveniles
7) Eastern Bluebird
8) Osprey
9) Summer Tanager

By Jordan Lake Neighborhood: Ranger Cove, 5 photos, 06/30/2018
Ranger Cove, Jordan Lake Neighborhood
 
The glitter of a ruby-throated hummingbird against the soft glow my lens made of the background foliage.
A quizzical northern cardinal made me smile.
 
Bright eyes, startling gold against the iridescent deep purple-black of a common grackle.
The snowy egret’s translucence allows you to see the bones and joints of its wing: of its shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers.
Note too that his feet have yellow socks!
 
Perched probably 60 feet up at the top of a tree, it is a little startling to see an immature great blue heron surveying the cove.
Actually great blue herons of all ages often spend a great deal of time way up in tall trees.