Today was a good day!
Something happened that I have been wishing to happen for as long as I have done this whole experiment. As you know I have been “stalking” a certain Cardinal teen, but he was not cooperating the way I wanted. Well, that ended today, and I present you him in all his polka dotted teenage glory. 😍 A White-throated Sparrow and several Juncos have also checked out the same area today, so I will place a camera there again tomorrow. But I am so happy to see his beauty up close finally! Young Cardinals are camouflaged and only start to get more color as they age. The beak turns to the characteristic orange-red when they are one year old. In the meantime, the plumage will pick up more and more red with the males. So there is only a certain time when they look like this. I love him!
Video: Finally!
I have been stalking this adorable little stinker for a couple of weeks now, a young Cardinal. I keep hearing it begging for food from the parents but the whole family is camera shy. This morning, however, he came for a sip at the bird bath. The beak is still brown and will only change to the characteristic red when the bird has reached one year of age. The plumage will slowly start to fill in more with color too. I love this "tie-dye" stage on them.
Apart from that, there is very little going on in the yard still. The leaves are starting to turn, the air smells like fall, and it is raining Black Walnuts. This means for me that winter prep is still ongoing. Each morning, I go out with a helmet on to collect them (they are big and fall from tall trees and I like my head). I also saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch this morning, which is wonderful news because you never know if they will return. Hopefully, it will also check out the camera feeders. Have a nice Wednesday!
