juvenile or adult?

These two Northern Cardinals Cardinalis cardinalis look alike.  Both are females, so have some red feathers like the all-red males, but are mostly tan rusty brownish so they can hide better from predators in nesting season.

But notice the difference between the adult and juvenile?

The young first-year female Cardinal above still has her juvenile dark grey bill.  Her new adult feathers are just coming in to form her winter coat.

The adult female Cardinal at right is identified by her bright orange or red bill.  Her feathers look disorganized like her youngster because she is molting.  She loses her old worn feathers in late summer, so her new warm winter feathers are just growing in.

wild berries

The birds are not the only wildlife
enjoying berries in the wild woods. 
The squirrels hang upside-down
in the mulberry tree to reach
the berries as they ripen.

wild berries

At the edge of the woods, where sun shines on them part of the day, wild raspberries grow each spring.  The birds love the juicy berries so much that they usually don't get a chance to ripen fully to their darkest black-red. 
This year, I covered these with a net for a while in order to see them ripen. And, I got to taste them too!

germander

Germander Teucrium canadense self-seeded a few years ago where the slopes drain rainwater down to the swale and into the woods.  Tiny 3/8" flowers cluster on spikes that stand six inches above green leaves.  Bees collect pollen and suck nectar from Germander.  The leaves are bitter, so the rabbits and deer do not browse these plants.

Eastern Bluebird babies

Eastern Bluebirds hatched five babies in a nestbox near the wild wild woods.  Both parents feed them worms, flies, damselflies, and other insects of all sizes.  Here, one little bird tries to swallow the big bug he got for breakfast.