Blackbird winter

I've been neglecting the blackbirds in the garden this winter. It has been so mild that I haven't put out much food for them or the other birds. Yet last week I noticed them flying into the Amelanchier as they saw me appear though the back door. They haven't forgotten. So I've bought some more food, and have filled up the feeder for the finches and tits too. This male was framed by the winter flowering Viburnum bodnantense that brightens this corner of the garden through the months when there is nothing else in bloom. He's a young male as the brown primary feathers show, but also perhaps by the observation that he was keeping out of the way of a large matriarch brownbird (though not the Boss who used to be in charge here).

I worked at home today because I had a succession of conference calls. The one before lunch overran and left me insufficient time to take Gus out before the next and much longer one started. Gus couldn't understand why I wasn't putting on my boots and coat, and as the speaker phone broadcast corporate language to the muted audience, he in turns repeatedly nudged me, stared longingly into my eyes, and resignedly put his head in my lap. We finally escaped just before darkness. So just as well I took this photo of the blackbird during my morning coffee break, or else there would have been nothing in the blip bank.