My lovely little cardinal family was very much in evidence this fine clear bright sunshiny summer morning. (Can you tell how happy folks in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states are to be out of that horrid rain-rain-rain weather pattern?)
The little one, who seems more and more to be developing the colors of her mother (so I’m still betting on her being a girl), perched and posed for me briefly.
Young female cardinal
Then she decided to get some food. She’s feeding entirely on her own, but isn’t confident of the feeders and the mobs of finches there (her parents just muscle the littler birds out of the way), so she hit the ground beneath the feeders to see what goodies could be found.
Young cardinal foraging
She also seems to be practicing raising her crest. I don’t often see her without it raised.
Crest raised
Mom sat nearby, serenely and calmly taking in the scene and, I suspect, enjoying the freedom from feeding the little one.
Mother cardinal
Dad, on the other hand, is molting and is not in a particularly good mood these days.
Father cardinal
He was distinctly unhappy when the mourning doves got anywhere near him and flapped his wings aggressively to shoo them away.
Aggressive wing flaps
More wing flaps