Reader photo: Leo the late bloomer

Kathy Degner has spent a lot of time photographing birds at Almansor Park in Alhambra. So much time, she says, that the Mandarin ducks there have started to recognize her. One in particular has caught her attention. She calls him Leo, after the title character of the children’s book “Leo the Late Bloomer,” about a tiger who’s slow to develop.

One year, Degner said, after all the other male Mandarins grew in their colorful feathers (after the breeding season, males molt their elaborate feathers and then regrow them in the fall), Leo’s ornate plummage had not yet grown in.

“I’ve captured many photos of Leo, but I really love this one,” she said. “The look on his face seems to capture his personality.”

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