Northern Cardinal behavior
July 29, 2026
I was too late to photograph the pair, so just a photo of what struck me as a young cardinal.
My initial thought was it was a parent feeding their child but then read that male cardinals often bring "gifts" of food to females during courtship and feed them beak to beak, so I suppose I found the most likely answer to the behavior?
Just a Monarch butterfly on the Mountain Mint.
The plant in the photo is Short-toothed Mountain Mint from what I learned through Google Image Search. There are many different mint types and they have a reputation for unchecked growth but I've found these do not present a problem in their present location, and have divided and placed some in different locations on the property.
Henry Eiler Rudbeckia in the garden. I first saw them at the New Jersey Botanical Gardens and liked them so much I added them to our garden.
A Spring Azure butterfly spotted in the garden.
The Spring Azure butterfly.