A Work in Progress

Photo Submission

Submitted By

Cristina Hartshorn

Boston, MA, USA

Description

I often take pictures of beautiful Northern Cardinals, but never realized that they start out life like the ugly duckling of the children’s tale, until I stumbled on this tiny and rather odd-looking fellow. The fledgling was perched right below its nest and calling insistently. For a while, I tried unsuccessfully to guess which kind of bird it could be and looked around for the adult that was responding to its calls. I did eventually spot a female cardinal hiding in the hedges and anxiously hopping around: mystery solved and something learned!