Meet Precious. She’s my dad’s cat. She keeps him on his toes. Every afternoon at precisely 2:30, she leads him out on the porch. She checks on her lizards and supervises his refilling of her bird feeders.

I had taken my camera that day because I’d been watching a nest of Red-bellied Woodpeckers in my dad’s neighbor’s tree. The babies had already fledged, but Precious let me go sit on my mom’s favorite bench and photograph her birds. There were plenty of other babies to watch.

This little cardinal is a juvenile. He’s molting into his adult colors, so we can tell he’s a little boy. He was really grateful that the doves had knocked a bunch of seed down onto the ground for him.

Feed me! Feed me! Feed me!

The sound of a baby mockingbird is unmistakeable. Nagging. Maybe even annoying. This bird was big enough to fly, but his parents were still feeding him. Here’s the lunge as he spotted his parent across the yard and moved to the prime feeding position.

After my dad refilled the big feeder, the Blue Jays were the first to move in. After the adults quieted their relentless teenagers, the juvies settled down in the nearby trees. Mom or Dad returned to the feeder alone, seeming to enjoy the peace and quiet of eating alone. I think this guy was tossing his seed like a good handful of popcorn.

Precious is looking forward to cooler temperatures as her fall birds return to Florida. In the meantime, she recommends that you drink lots of cool water and sleep in the shade!