Leucistic Northern Cardinal
About six weeks ago, A Charlottesville birder, Pete Myers, emailed me that he had seen a highly leucistic Northern Cardinal on the trail near my house. I looked for it several times during the next couple of weeks, but could not find it. I was hiking here in Old Trail this morning, when a woman walking her dog stopped and apologized for disturbing my photography. We talked for a couple of minutes, and she asked me about a pink and white bird she had seen a couple of times along this trail during the past few weeks. I thought for a minute and said it must have been the leucistic Cardinal that a Charlottesville birder had told me about several weeks ago. I had just finshed that sentence when the leucistic Cardinal flew in and landed a short distance away. It must have heard me talking about it!
Leucistic Northern Cardinal
Leucistic Northern Cardinal
Leucistic Northern Cardinal
Leucistic Northern Cardinal
Leucistic Northern Cardinal
Leucistic Northern Cardinal
Leucistic Northern Cardinal
Leucistic Northern Cardinal
Leucistic Northern Cardinal
I saw 27 avian species here this morning, including five woodpecker species, and a few other species while hiking here yesterday.
White-crowned Sparrow
Swamp Sparrow
Hermit Thrush
Winter Wren
Purple Finch
Pileated Woodpecker and first year Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Black Vultures