Ah, Spring, you did just what I thought you would do. You pushed it all the way to the edge with your warmth, even giving me 60 degree days. Yesterday, I biked to a meeting and got a slight tan for my folly of a lack of sunscreen. Each day on the bike trail gave a new migrant. Monday it was just juncos practicing their territory song. Tuesday a few groggy red-winged blackbirds showed up (like the bird above), Wednesday you gave me bluebirds around my beehives–all so wonderful. And today, you give us back the cold. Even the red-winged blackbirds seemed to be singing, “I came back for this?!?”
I was out today with my buddy who runs Avian Images and after the warm temperatures of earlier this week, we were hoping for a warm day at Wood Lake Nature Center. We didn’t get it. But it was still nice to see red-winged blackbirds here, a sure sign of spring–much better than the confusing robins that we see all winter.
Cardinals are my favorite, followed by red winged blackbirds…
Hi Sharon, I enjoyed your blog. I saw your photo in “Birds and Blooms.” I’m an artist and avid bird lover. I have a sample picture book on Facebook called: “Inez Ibis Flies Again, the Story of a Courageous Ibis Who Never Gave Up,” and I have all kinds of bird paintings. Have a blog and art gallery: http://carol-allen-anfinsen.artistwebsite.com
I don’t see a place for “followers,” so I will keep checking back. I have an unusual painting of a redwing on my blogspot blog. I titled that painting “blending in,” because the redwing’s wings replicate the petals of the sunflowers.
God Bless!
Down here in mostly sunny (even the snow melted before landing today) New Mexico, I have a small birds feeder on a tree in the back yard. It works out, the little birds are sloppy eaters and the larger ones are comfortable rooting around the lava rocks at the base of the tree. The quail, especially, appreciate this.
But I noticed one afternoon….ten-fourteen days ago maybe?….a larger bird hanging upside down and sticking his beak in there. Black….with, yes, those lovely red shoulders. He only hung around for the afternoon, so I suppose he was fueling up for the long drive.
BTW, the siskins (I think), juncos and various other perching birds didn’t seem to phased by him….they waited nearby until he took a break, a few even perched at the openings on the other side of the feeder for brief flurries of feeding.
The first call of a Red-Wing Blackbird always brings memories of spring roaring back as a boy in Rochester, NY. They nested only a hundred yards from my house but try as I might for several years…I never could find the nest.