From Kengi, a gorgeous Red-winged Blackbird. Generally, I don’t get to see these guys unless I get out and about, here, they like to be close to water. Agelaius phoeniceus, male. Photo is 1600 x 1200, click for full size. Such a happy boy!
© Kengi. All rights reserved.
I’m sitting in the middle of lakes and wetlands, so they are the most common bird around here. I need to get myself over to some of the parks and lake shores to see if I can capture some egrets and sandhill cranes. I constantly see them flying over.
Oh, yes, you would be surrounded, then! Do you also have a population of Yellow-headed Blackbirds?
I haven’t seen one yet, but will keep en eye out.
They tend to be much shyer than the red-wings. Here, they hang out mostly in the dense reeds and grasses growing on the wet shore, and into the water, where it’s damn near impossible to get close. I’ve walked right up to red-wings in trees, and they don’t care. The yellows, though, they aren’t nearly that casual.
I think I’ll take a quick run over to a local park with dense reeds this morning.
Right. Until one walks too close* to the nest and then the really do care … the care enough to fly up and whack one’s head with their little talons!
When I was a lad of about 14, and rode about on my bicycle without a helment, I had the privilege of being attacked by one of these bird. I was just minding my own business, riding along a main road (but one that had a marshy ditch along the side) when I heard a flurry of wings and then “SMACK” got both feet to the back of the head. That certainly got my attention!
*A variable distance, something between 1 -->50 metres, depending on how the male RWBL is feeling that day.
*sigh*
“they” care.
Love! I miss them. I grew up in a wetland, so these were daily birds, too. Sadly, I moved to a different continent (not that the wetlands survived anyway).
“The” @ 6, yes, all birds can get stroppy when defending home and hearth. The ones I’ve walked right up to were males, doing their mating whistle dance. They didn’t care about me at all.
The red jumps at the viewer. Dramatic colours.