Old Trail: part of the loop trail, and a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains
We had about two inches of snow yesterday. Most of the snow that did not melt on contact was on trees and grassy surfaces. I did a mid-morning hike here in Old Trail, and wanted to try for more photos of the leucistic Northern Cardinal that I had seen three days ago. I thought that photos of this bird with a snowy surroundings would make for a good photo. The section of the loop trail where I had seen it before was usually in shadow, so I waited until the second half of my hike to look for it when the sun would be higher in the sky. As I started the hike, there was fairly even snow cover on shaded areas, but even though the temperature was below freezing, sunlit areas were starting to melt.
Old Trail: part of the loop trail, and a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains
I saw about 15 avian species on my hike.
Hermit Thrush
Dark-eyed Junco
Great Blue Heron
Carolina Chickadee checking out a potential nesting site?
I re-located the leucistic Northern Cardinal near to where I saw it three days ago, along the loop trail on the east side of Old Trail Drive. This bird looks to me to be a female lacking its brown pigment. Some of the photos I took this morning show a tinge of brown coloring, but I'm not sure if it a small amout of brown pigment or some coloring due to the sunlight or reflection from brown vegetation. None of the photos of this bird out of direct sunlight show any brownish tinge.
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
Leucistic Northern Cardinal
Leucistic Northern Cardinal
Leucistic Northern Cardinal