Backyard and Beyond

Heard under a conifer.
A baby Northern Cardinal. Clammed up upon seeing me.
The bird could scurry and even hop-fly about a foot at a time.
There was a parent with a large moth, which she tried to stick in the baby’s mouth several times.
Before finally succeeding on the third try. Even all muppet-mouthed, the youngster sill had a hard time getting this food deposited.

Every spring bird rescue places are inundated with nestlings/fledglings like this because well-meaning folks think they’re in trouble. They’re not, really, unless there’s a cat about. It’s actually normal for them to be out of the nest at this stage. As witnessed here, the parents are still feeding them.

Considering this was August 1st, probably a second brood.