A male Red-bellied Woodpecker with the sunlight highlighting his ruby eyes.

A fledgling Blue Jay shows a parent that his/her beak is empty and that food needs to be put in it. I love the fledgling's tiny tail feathers!

These shots of Baltimore Orioles are not the cleanest but they show something really cool (well, I think so😁), which is how similar the female Baltimore Orioles can look to males when they get older. I thought the female was the male at first until they both were at the nest.

An Eastern Kingbird lands in the lily pads after successfully hunting a moth.

A pair of recently fledged Red-tailed Hawks. These two were flapping and exploring the branches around the nest. The day after these photos were taken, the nest was empty. Now they are off exploring the woods, still being fed by their parents while they learn to hunt.

A Tree Swallow standing guard over a nest box. Around here in Michigan you'll often see two nest boxes about 20 feet away from each other. This is to help the Tree Swallows and Eastern Bluebirds co-exist.

A female Northern Cardinal takes flight from the boardwalk.

Based on the left Osprey's expression, I like to think she just can't believe he came back with a small stick instead of fish for the nestlings.

A female White-breasted Nuthatch waiting for a sunflower seed. The females have dark gray caps, while the males have black.

A Sandhill Crane in the midst of some preening. The foot is giving strong dinosaur vibes.

A Barred Owl air drying. After it stopped raining, this owl flew out from the nest to the tree tops where the wind helped to dry out the feathers.

A male Baltimore Oriole perched low in the cattails, giving good looks of his brilliant orange and black plumage.

A male Common Yellowthroat watching the field below. I don't know if there were young ones or a good food source in the grasses, but this male kept popping down around the same spot in the grasses.

A curious Eastern Chipmunk looks around while clinging to a tree trunk. These little fuzzies can go surprisingly high in the trees. 🐿️

Cedar Waxwings are a big fan of Serviceberries. This is a younger bird as he/she doesn't have the waxy red tips on the wings.

A fledgling Common Grackle informing mom that they are hungry.

I'm not the only one who gets attacked by Deer Flies at the park. This Great Blue Heron is being bugged by one, with the fly buzzing constantly around the heron's head. The fly is near the cheek, seen against the neck feathers.

A male Red-bellied Woodpecker with his ruby eyes checking out the nature trail from the far side of the tree.

A fledgling Blue Jay waits for a parent to bring over food.

The mate of the Queen of the Boardwalk, a Northern Cardinal, perches on the boardwalk railing.

A Blue Jay and a male Baltimore Oriole battle in a Cottonwood tree. The Blue Jay looks to have the upper hand (upper wing?) here, but was eventually chased off by the Baltimore Oriole.

A male Rose-breasted Grosbeak standing guard near his nest, keeping a close eye on the nearby Blue Jays.

A male Baltimore Oriole perches on the branch that is holding the hanging nest with his nestlings.

A Mute Swan was sitting on her nest when a Snapping Turtle decided to climb on up. The turtle made it all the way to the top before several wing smacks encouraged the turtle to leave.

A male Common Yellowthroat showing where he gets his name from. Although I'm not a big fan of bird names that have "Common" in them. It sounds like it downplays the bird; instead of "Common" it should be something like "Superb" or "Enchanting."

I hadn't seen any young Killdeer this year until I was out on a run in the neighborhood yesterday. I spotted two Killdeer chicks near a parking lot, so I drove back after my run with my camera to get a few photos.

A Baltimore Oriole that recently fledged. This little one was pretty high in a tree and was being fed by mom and dad. The tail feathers are so tiny!

A Great Blue Heron chases off a Great Egret from a perch at the top of the rookery. There were some courtship dances by a Great Egret a couple of weeks ago in the rookery but I haven't seen any nesting attempts. Maybe next year the Great Egrets will try nesting here again.

A Green Heron on the hunt along the lake's shoreline.

Even in his molting phase, this Wood Duck knows how to strike a pose to show off those feathers. Further along in the molt he'll be much harder to find; the males lose their flight feathers and hide to they don't become easy targets.

A female Rose-breasted Grosbeak and her nestlings, right after she delivered them a meal.

A male Baltimore Oriole on patrol around the nest.

A Green Heron taking off with a Mud Minnow meal.

A mama Wood Duck and her ducklings, resting on lily pad roots.

A Cedar Waxwing deciding on which berry would be the best one to eat.

A Great Blue Heron scratching an itch.

A male Common Yellowthroat showing that he has yellow feathers on his undertail coverts (aka rump feathers.)

A male Baltimore Oriole keeping a close eye on a Blue Jay on the boardwalk railing. The Blue Jay must've gotten too close to a nest as this male was chattering and giving chase.

Rose-breasted Grosbeaks are striking with their red, white, and black attire. One of my favorite birds to photograph in the summer.

A male Red-bellied Woodpecker floofing his noggin feathers.

An American Red Squirrel gathers up nesting material. There are have been lots of young American Red Squirrels around lately, they are cute and feisty little fuzzies.

A Great Egret flying over the Great Blue Heron rookery. Interestingly, there was a Great Egret doing a courtship dance in one of the nests last week. When I started visiting the rookery 10 years ago there were many Great Egret nests along with the Great Blue Heron nests.

A male Wood Duck in the midst of a preening session. Right now the males are molting and going into their eclipse plumage, which has subdued colors.

Spotted across the lake - a fawn on the Great Blue Heron rookery island.

I like how it looks like this Green Heron took a big bite out of this lily pad. The heron wasn't really interested in greens but rather in the tiny fish that were swimming in the shallow waters.

A male Baltimore Oriole flying across the nature path to chase away a Blue Jay that has gotten too close to the nest.

A Cedar Waxwing pausing for a moment before going back to hunting berries.

A female Downy Woodpecker perches on a cattail reed. The rusty coloring around her beak and her chest is staining from tannins in tree bark.

Great Blue Heron nestlings stretch their wings and bite each other's beaks at the top of the rookery. Looking at their wings, it'll be probably a couple of weeks before they try flying. The smaller one might need a little more time before the first flight test.

One of the many lovely Baltimore Orioles at the local park. While common they are always a delight to photograph.