Catching the Sun

By coincidence, Sue @susiemc and I had a little discussion about cardinals today. And voila: this female cardinal came across my path. Joanne @gardencat, do you know why she looks so scruffy? Is she molting?

[Julie Ryan]

I cannot see the bird, but lovely autumn shot

[Heather]

@julie Thank you, Julie. I actually made a mistake with my posting. I posted my photo from yesterday. Now, here is the bird :)

[Julie Ryan]

Oh there it is! Nice capture

[Yao RL]

haha, so surprised when @julie said she cannot see the bird. now I get it, it is a beautiful bird.

[Pyrrhula]

A beautiful close up capture of this nice bird. Fav.

[Beryl Lloyd]

Such a lovely find and capture albeit a little scruffy ,Such beautiful soft colours !

[Shutterbug]

I’m no bird expert, but I would say molting or chilly. Beautiful capture of her colors.

[Diana]

Lovely shot of this gorgeous bird, good that she does not have a mirror! I would think she is moulting the way our bishop does.

[haskar]

Beautifully captured.

[Sue Cooper]

This is a fabulous capture of this gorgeous little bird, Heather. I guess she's just having a bad hair day😁. Fav.

[Jo Worboys]

They do look so different from the males but still as unique great shot Heather

[bkb in the city]

Great capture

[Joanne Diochon]

Probably molting, yes. They tend to do that in late August/September around here. At this time of year the adult cardinals look pretty scruffy. I think they are exhausted from feeding their young and also going through molt into their winter plumage. Here is one from September a few years ago in my back yard:
https://365project.org/gardencat/365/2020-09-10

[carol white]

A lovely capture.Fav😊

[Jeremy Cross]

Great capture with lovely light and great focus

[Heather]

@gardencat Thanks so much, Joanne! And thanks for your photo from September a few years ago. Yes, our female cardinals look the same. And thank you @shutterbug49 and @ludwigsdiana Diana, it seems that moulting is what's happening here.

[wendy frost]

A great capture and bird to find with its lovely plumage colours.