There are several families of northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis) living in my yard and the surrounding forest. For a little while I wasn’t seeing very many cardinals because they were all sitting on eggs or raising nestlings. Not long ago, the first fledgling showed up at the feeding station with its father. The parent wouldn’t let the baby come out of the underbrush, but I got glimpses of it, and could hear it calling to be fed whenever the father left to get more food. Since then, the number of fledglings has grown tremendously and most of them are feeding themselves. They usually show up in small family groups, although some of the older ones show up by themselves. This is one of the older males and he is pretty much independent at this point. He’s still not fully colored out, and his beak is still black. He can also be a little clumsy and unsure of himself, so it’s still easy to tell he’s a youngster, but he’s growing up fast. It has been a lot of fun watching him and his siblings and cousins all grow up. It’s also interesting watching them interact with each other and with the adults as they mature.