Today’s photos come from reader Steve Adams. His narrative is indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
These photos have a theme of Red-winged Blackbirds. These feisty little birds are not shy about defending their territory from birds much bigger than they, but they also have a beauty all their own. These photos were all taken at the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge in New York.
The first series is an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) right after it caught a fish. I had been watching it hunt for several minutes. It finally dived and retrieved a fish. Fortunately, it began to fly towards where I was positioned. Suddenly a Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) came from nowhere and began to harass the Osprey. It was amusing watching this formidable bird of prey flee from its little tormentor.
The next series is a Red-winged Blackbird harassing a Sandhill Crane (Antigone canadensis).
Finally, this is a series I call “Red-winged Blackbird among the Lupines”.
Great behavior photos. Sometimes they even go after people!
Indeed — why if for no other reason your should wear a helmet when bicycling in the countryside!
Thanks for sharing. Great shots!
Very well done!
They are gone now, but earlier in the season we would have flocks of the birds move thru the neighborhood. You definitely knew where they were, with all their noisy drama.
“Red-winged Blackbird among the Lupines” – stunning colors.
Your red wingers are more vibrant than the ones we see from time to time. Beautiful photos.
So exhilarating!
I’ve watched our local osprey and noticed that they have little interest in aggressively defending themselves from other birds. If anything takes notice of them, they fly away.
Beautiful! Thanks, Steve.
You increased my fondness for Red-Wings with these extraordinary photos and reminded me of how much I miss lupines.
I ask my thanks to carry a lot of freight for them, knowing that it is a lovely, sufficient word..
I too love red-winged blackbirds…they have such a lovely song. These were great captures of that marvelous and feisty bird.
Great photos, thank you. We have a pond near the house where a flock of redwings nest among the cattails every spring. Ravens and Red Tail Hawks are also common, I enjoy watching those fearless little critters chase after them. I sometimes get buzzed myself when walking by the pond.
Wonderful and lovely photos!
Beautiful series. Recently, while walking in a local park, I saw an egret fishing in the retention pond. A red-winged blackbird dived bombed it. So the egret relocated across the pond. The bird followed it across the pond and kept harassing it! I assumed the original location the heron was fishing was too close to a nest- but it seemed the red-winged blackbird didn’t want the egret in “his” pond at all! These photos are fabulous.
Thanks to everyone for all the kind words. I appreciate it!