Rest & a Bath

At first look I thought this bright red bird was a male Cardinal But when I took a look through my long lens, I was pleasantly surprised to see a male Summer Tanager! He's on his way to overwinter as far south as the middle of South America, having spent Spring and Summer in his nesting grounds in the Mid-Eastern, Southern and South-Western States. Male Summer Tanagers are the only completely red bird in North America. The female is a distinctive mustard-yellow. Summer Tanagers are very adept at catching bees and wasps on the wing, without getting stung! This handsome boy apparently stopped by to rest and to take a refreshing bath in our bog.
The Beautiful bird on the right is a Brown Thrasher. Brown Thrashers are in the same family as Mockingbirds and Catbirds. They spend their Spring and Summer in the Eastern, Central and Southern United States. Brown Thrashers are considered 'short-distance/partial migrants', moving in the Winter from the Northern part of their breeding range to more Southern region of that range. I know that there are 'resident' populations here in North Central Florida, remaining in place year 'round. But in our yard we only see them in the Fall and Winter.