And don't come back!!

My hike today took me along a lake where a number of red-wing blackbirds were nesting. I was dive-bombed and scolded for about a half a mile before I was able to beat a hasty leisurely retreat. I chose this photo because you can see the female scolding me, but also because I have never gotten a photo of a male and female together. Here are some interesting factoids from Cornell about red-wings:

The Red-winged Blackbird is a highly polygynous species, meaning males have many female mates – up to 15 in some cases. In some populations 90 percent of territorial males have more than one female nesting on their territories. But all is not as it seems: one-quarter to one-half of nestlings turn out to have been sired by someone other than the territorial male.

Male Red-winged Blackbirds fiercely defend their territories during the breeding season, spending more than a quarter of daylight hours in territory defense. He chases other males out of the territory and attacks nest predators, sometimes going after much larger animals, including horses and people.

This particular male was providing protection for two females, as best as I could tell.

I saw my first-of-season great spangled fritillary, Little Wood Satyr, Dot-tailed whiteface dragon as well as several deer and a watersnake. I posted 15 shots on Flickr, so if you're feeling adventurous, you can have a look starting here. If you just want to have a look at the male red-wing as he was circling over my head, trying to intimidate me, have a look HERE (this was my alternate shot today as it is the best in-flight shot I've ever gotten of a male red-wing.)

The backyard was abuzz this morning - while I sat on the patio with my tea, I saw cedar waxwings, hummingbirds, cardinals, catbirds, wrens, chickadees, titmice, blue jays, one crow being chased by blue jays, nuthatches, and finches.

Three more days until I leave to visit hubs in FL - yay!!!

Debbi