If it is a cardinal, it must be an immature one, as it was pretty small for a northern cardinal. I have not found anything else on the list of birds from Huntington Beach S.P., though, that seem to match, so it may very well be a cardinal.
A night heron colony has been nesting each spring at our local Detroit Zoo for over 10 years. This year there are over 40 nests. Here is a shot of one from today's visit.
Not sure about those feathers, but they are unusual herons. They nest in trees. There are about 40 nests in a couple of trees. One of the zoo employees told us they nest there because it's near the African pelicans, and they like to steal their food.
Edit : according to Wikipedia, the feathers on the head are for greetings and courtship.
Thanks, Mike. I never knew that herons nested in trees. I have always seen blue herons in water, so just assumed they nested there, too. It makes sense, though, to protect the nest from predators. That's a bigger nest than the ones we saw yesterday for the night herons.
Just to follow up on our attempted identification of my bird shots from Huntington Beach State Park, it appears that Sam is the winner! I captured this in our back yard tonight - a cardinal with different coloring than the complete red ones I normally see around here. I'm guessing this is a female, and a complete red one is a male. I was just messing around shooting doves on my wife's bird feeder when it appeared - I have never noticed one of this coloring around here in the past.
Here is the original shot from Huntington Beach as a comparison. I still think this is an immature bird, as it looks smaller (or maybe they are smaller in the South).
The bird on the picnic table is a raven. They were all over the park, and most of them were huge. The photo really doesn't do justice to the size of the bird, but it was the best one I got.
The osprey nest is in an incredible setting in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Here is a wider shot, to give you an idea of the location. The nest has been there for many years.
And here is a shot down canyon, to give you an idea of the general area
Last week we paid a visit to the Cascades Raptor Center, a local bird sanctuary and rehabilitation facility. All the birds were in enclosures, so getting shots of the more impressive birds, like the bald eagles, was not really possible. But it was fun getting snaps of the more approachable (and kind of cute) ones.
There is an osprey nest on a utility pole along the roadside near my parents house in northern Michigan, too. It's been there for years. It's amazing some of the places they build their nests.
This isn't an "in the wild shot", but I took it during our zoo visit last Sunday. The eagles are usually quite close and posing, plus the exhibit has no glass or fencing, making for a great photo op.