Blackbirds and More

We had to take the car to Toyota out in Stonebridge and when we drove by the water catchment nearby I could see blackbirds on the cattails. So when we went back to pick up the car I took my camera. I was expecting Red-winged Blackbirds, but there were actually more Yellow-headed Blackbirds. I don't usually see them as much. I'm not sure why there were so many here.





Thankfully for photography, they're not as skittish as some birds, But the males were busy defending their territories and chasing females so they didn't sit still for too long. And it was quite windy so even when they were perched, they weren't exactly still.





Of course, they were also busy singing. I love the liquid sound of the Red-winged Blackbirds. The Yellow-headed have a little "rougher" song.

As usual, the males are the flashy colorful ones. The Yellow-headed females still have some yellow color, but nowhere near as bright.



And the Red-headed females are quite nondescript.



There were also some ducks. Usually it's just Mallards, but for some reason this pond was almost all Canvasbacks.



Along with their shiny brown heads, the males red/orange eyes stood out.



The Canvasbacks were also playing mating games.



There were a fewRed-necked grebes. They were a little more shy.



The first time I walked by here I missed this Canada Goose on her nest, even though she was only about 10 feet away. She certainly didn't miss me. She stared intently at me the whole time. I saw my first goslings last week when I was out running. That seemed quite early given our cold April.



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