Friday, September 15, 2023

Cardinal generation

The first bird of the morning was the male cardinal fledgling whose beak was half turned bronze.  He was all puffed up against the North wind's chill.  I speculated that the strong wind was being funneled between a high to the Northwest and Hurricane Lee out East in the Atlantic.  It was still blowing and since the moon was dark, the tide was over the dock. 

An older female cardinal fledgling shared the birdbath with two house finches.  They all wanted seeds, not a bath.  Her beak looked almost golden.  A Carolina wren tucked into the barkbutter balls.  Earlier, the blue jay that was regrowing head feathers had had a helping of barkbutter balls.  

A strand of spider silk had snagged a leaf which was twirling and bouncing in the wind.  And that wind was not warm so I stayed out of the water.  I may regret that tomorrow.  . 

Toward evening, more cardinals arrived.  A younger male fledgling sat on the feeder roof crying to be fed.  Mama stuffed his mouth. The older fledglings watched enviously.  I do not remember seeing this many young cardinals at one time before.  Puffy clouds turned buttery in the setting sun's light.  


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