cardinal eggs

Northern Cardinal and babies at nest

Discovered this nest in the magnolia tree outside our bedroom window, where we could watch the feeding activities without disturbing the birds!

Welcome Home

This photo was taken with my iPhone because my larger camera would have caused too much disturbance in the tiny access point I had to work with. There are 2 Bayberry bushes on either side of our front door. This is the first time in several years they returned to nest in this particular bush. (I had trimmed the bushes way back a few years ago. Bad idea in hind sight) Our front yard seems to be a micro climate for Cardinal breeding. We have a Red Japaneses Maple hybrid tree in the front center of our home that we have nick-named “The Love Shack” because every season, the Cardinals return, flock to that tree and perform their mating dances there. Then they nest in the smaller bushes around our home to lay & hatch their eggs. I named this picture ‘Welcome Home’ as nod to their annual return, a nod for returning to that particular bush (and as a subtle apology for having wrecked their home before) as well as nod to it being right at our front door. Momma and her eggs, and eventually the hatch-lings, welcomed us home every time we returned. (which I interpreted as her acceptance of my apology 😉 I hope you enjoy her beautiful ‘home’ as much as we did. PS. I could decide the category, so I hope it was ok to enter it in both beautiful eggs and best nest….

Welcome Home

This photo was taken with my iPhone because my larger camera would have caused too much disturbance in the tiny access point I had to work with. There are 2 Bayberry bushes on either side of our front door. This is the first time in several years they returned to nest in this particular bush. (I had trimmed the bushes way back a few years ago. Bad idea in hind sight) Our front yard seems to be a micro climate for Cardinal breeding. We have a Red Japaneses Maple hybrid tree in the front center of our home that we have nick-named “The Love Shack” because every season, the Cardinals return, flock to that tree and perform their mating dances there. Then they nest in the smaller bushes around our home to lay & hatch their eggs. I named this picture ‘Welcome Home’ as nod to their annual return, a nod for returning to that particular bush (and as a subtle apology for having wrecked their home before) as well as nod to it being right at our front door. Momma and her eggs, and eventually the hatch-lings, welcomed us home every time we returned. (which I interpreted as her acceptance of my apology 😉 I hope you enjoy her beautiful ‘home’ as much as we did. PS. I could decide the category, so I hope it was ok to enter it in both beautiful eggs and best nest….

Dad Feeds Fledgling

Unusual Feeding….

Who is feeding who here? This male cardinal seems to be feeding an immature blue grosbeak.

Thanks for the chow Dad!

I noticed this male cardinal feeding his young one for a few days before I was able to catch a shot of them. So sweet that they do this for their babies and for the females they are courting!

Baby Cardinal

Family Dinner

This cardinal couple built a nest in a rose bush right outside our kitchen window. We watched them raise two sweet babies.

Waiting

I observed the momma and daddy building the nest and waited to see what would take place next. I waited patiently (or maybe un-patiently) as the incubation took place and the chicks neared hatching.

Me Three!

After watching the momma and daddy cardinals build the nest and incubate the eggs, these baby birds were a sweet surprise. On this first day, they were starving!

Bright Eyes

This is a little cardinal baby that I had been watching since it’s birth. This is the day he chose to fledge the nest. After watching the antics of the parents and babies all day, this baby is settling in for the night after his daddy coaxed him off of the ground and into a nearby rose bush.

Patience Required

I had been watching this nest since I saw the cardinal momma and daddy making it. I had snapped a couple of pics each day to monitor the growth. I decided I wanted to capture the feeding by the parents, one or the other. I set up my tripod and my camera and equipped with the remote for the shutter, I got in a comfy position not too far away and waited…and waited. It took quite a long while for the momma and daddy to get comfortable with “something different” being a bit too close to the nest. You see, in order for the remote to work, I could not be more than 6-8 feet away from the camera. The cardinal parents would fly to the fence the nest was on, check me out over and over again,and fly away. I never looked at them, but had my head positioned so I could see them just out of the corner of my eye. FINALLY, it happened, the daddy cardinal didn’t fly away! He landed on the fence and then he flew into the nest. At that time, I could not see him or the babies, I just began snapping away with the remote. He fed and then flew. As soon as he fled the nest, I immediately removed my tripod and camera and headed inside to see if I had captured anything worthwhile. I was beyond excited to see this photo.

Hello New World!

For several days, maybe weeks, I kept hearing this tiny, high, fast, clicking noise that maybe could pass for a tweet. Continuing to listen each day, I started to wonder if the sound was actually a baby bird versus a new species of bird to the backyard (only been birding since Oct2013:). Then the sound become more clear that it could possibly be a baby cardinal. One Sunday afternoon, I heard the noise really loud inside the house. I eagerly said , “I am going to FIND who is making that noise Today!!!” I went to the windows and started looking in all the trees. I was beyond awe-struck when I found the “noise-maker”! A baby cardinal was sitting on a branch outside directly behind my husband’s leather chair. I did my best impersonation of the Michael Jackson Moon Walk as I backed up to go get the camera.
I was able to take several photographs of the baby cardinal through the slots of the shudders, yet I wanted a better photograph, especially since this would be through a window and not as clear as I would like. I slowly walked up to the shudders and opened it slowly. My heart was pounding rapidly as though the movement of my heart would scare the baby away more so than the window shudder moving. Surprisingly, s/he stayed and allowed me to take a few photographs. I was even able to take a few with my iphone. What finally made him/her fly away was the wind started blowing and there was a leaf that kept blocking the view of me. I really enjoyed getting to view this new creature today and it appeared so did s/he.

Spread your wings and fly!!

Baby cardinal flies from bird feeder to tree and stays awhile playing with his wing – in and out, in and out – then flies off:)

Thanks Dad!

Was hearing loud baby chirps of a cardinal – finally saw the father feeding the baby:)

Breakfast in the Nest

Newly hatched northern cardinals waiting for mom and dad to bring in the literal grub!

Eggcellent!

4 Cardinal eggs found in the fork of a Japanese Maple!

What Remains

Mrs. Cardinal in the Knockout rose bush

Female cardinal nesting in the Knockout rose bush in my back yard near Mary Moore Seawright Park in south Austin. This is her third week to be caring for her eggs. The nest is so hidden that I have no idea how many eggs are in the nest.

Baby Cardinal with a mohawk

I was trimming a large wild rose bush next to my driveway. I was being very careful as not to be scratched up from head to toe. As I was lifting my head up very carefully, this little guy/girl was staring me right in the face. How hard it was not to laugh out loud at his feather-do and his “what-are-you-looking at?” stare.

Northern Cardinals

Juvenile Cardinal

Baby Cardinals at Feeding time by Logan (6) and Brooke (8)

Kid’s submission. Photo of baby cardinals in nest found by Logan (age 6) in the bushes one morning. While bird watching at 6:00 a.m., he noticed a mother and father cardinal entering and leaving a nest repeatedly. When he peeked in the branches he saw these babies. The mother cardinal flew out at him, which was quite a surprise. Sister Brooke (8) helped monitor the nest, and watch the parents fly in and out for feedings. One day, when the babies were older one of them actually hopped out of the nest and startled her.

First Splash Bath All By Myself!

The cardinals just love to use the fresh water to take a great big splish splash bath on a hot day. The babies learned pretty quickly how to use it too. I always have a couple of these out with fresh water every day. I put them under the patio table with the umbrella’s up, and close to lots of vegetation so they are safe from predators. They love it!

Eat your dinner!

Father Cardinal feeding his female fledgling!

Independence Day!!!

Cardinal Fledgling on 3rd of July, 2014….thus gaining his independence!

Babies Watching Babies!

Oh – I described it in the caption…

Feeding time

Feed me NOW!!!!

baby Cardinal waiting to be fed.

Northern Cardinal eggs

Northern Cardinal eggs in nest

baby Cardinals

from hatching to leaving the nest in 7 days.

Tweet Tweet Sweet

Cardinals Sleepytime

Young Northern Cardinal

This young Northern Cardinal was at our feeding station today. Beautiful colored feathers will soon transform this young one into a true beautiful adult bird.

Redbird Baby

I spotted a female Northern Cardinal hopping around the yard, and then realized she was tending to this fledgling. He/she was very tiny and cute, all bundled up in the grass.

Baby Cardinal

A baby Cardinals first trip to the bird feeder

Cardinal father and baby.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Cornell Lab of Ornithology