January 31 – My Nature Journal

Northern Cardinal

Cardinalis cardinalis

This evening’s nature walk was pretty quiet as most animals were settling down for the night.

Several American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos), two Great Blue Herons (Ardea herodias), and at least three Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) began to settle in trees to roost for the night.

I watched a group of Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) for a while but they managed to stay almost entirely behind brush despite being relatively close to shore, so I couldn’t get any good shots.

The most active creature was this male Northern Cardinal. He darted from tree branch to tree branch, and perched prominently. I think he was deliberately displaying his brilliant red feathers to any nearby female Cardinals and also to visually communicate to any nearby males that the area around his perched belongs to him.

But perching so openly was a little risky. His feathers were so brilliant they practically glowed against the gray color of dusk. He was dangerously obvious to any lurking Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) or Cooper’s Hawk (Astur cooperii) that wanted an nice evening meal.

Luckily, I didn’t see any hawk attack this male. But I can’t speak to what might have happened to him after I passed by.