Along Rookery Road

Rookery Road winds along the eastern half of Lake Martin.  Mostly consisting of rock gravel, it's a dusty and bumpy  ride.  At least it's wide enough to park without blocking others from passing. My husband and I made several trips along this road in our pursuit to seek out birds and other wildlife in the area.  

Portions of the swamp near the southern end of the road are literally covered in duckweed which gives it a bright green, slimy appearance.  The duckweed dissipates and water hyacinth dominates the swamp near the northern end of Rookery Road.  

On my right side (heading north) I viewed some tropical appearing plants (I don't recall the botanical name of these green fan-shaped plants), beautiful yellow wildflowers growing alongside the road, several turtles warming up on logs, a unique camp house, an old wood-framed house (I like old houses), cows in a pasture of yellow wildflowers (signs of spring), squirrels and a variety of birds.

Among the birds we viewed- Red-winged Blackbird, Pied-billed Grebe, Barred Owl, Killdeer, Yellow-rumped Warbler and White-throated Sparrow.  

Thanks for reading!  Have a wonderful, safe weekend!
Linked with Eileen for Saturday's Critters

Bye Bye Blackbirds

On February 13th, I posted a single photo of the Red-Winged Blackbird along with some tidbits of information on the bird species.  At that time, I didn't have but that one good photo of a male Red-Winged Blackbird.  However, since then I have acquired several images of a couple of males that frequented our bird feeders for a couple of months. They are gone now...probably migrated north for breeding season.  They will return in a few months.  

Either I didn't see any females or I didn't recognize them.  The female of this bird species has dark brown plumage with heavy pale streaks.  These photos are all of males. 

During the approaching summer breeding season, the male's plumage will begin to molt off, revealing bright red feathers, along with the yellow feathers, on his upper flight wings.  This show of bright feathers is spectacular in flight. Unfortunately, I have yet to capture a good photo of him in flight.

The only thing I found annoying about these male blackbirds is their hours on end screeching from nearby trees. They mean to be heard and they are.

Some populations of the Red-Winged Blackbird breed in the northern U.S. and lower half of Canada. They will travel up to 800 miles to breeding grounds during summer and return south to winter.  Since I haven't seen the two males since April, I'm certain they flew north into their breeding range. 

Red-Winged Blackbird

In the past, I haven't paid much attention to blackbirds.  Recently, however, I've acquired an interest in all of our local birds.  A sudden flash of color grabbed my attention and I focused in on this blackbird.  I later did some research and discovered that he is a Red-winged blackbird, common to our state.

The male Red-winged blackbird is hard to mistake.  Look for red and yellow shoulder badges upon an even, glossy black body.  On the other hand, the female of this species looks nothing like the male- she is dark brown overall with crisp streaks.  Though I haven't photographed a female yet, I did capture only one decent image of a male...because it is winter, his red shoulder badge is barely visible.  During breeding season, his shoulder badges are prominent and colorful.

According to articles I've read, 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.  

Also, the males 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.   Red-winged Blackbirds roost in flocks in all months of the year. In summer small numbers roost in the wetlands where the birds breed. Winter flocks can be congregations of several million birds, including other blackbird species and starlings. Each morning the roosts spread out, traveling as far as 50 miles to feed, then re-forming at night.  

This video shows how male Red-winged Blackbirds appear during breeding season- they look like they could be pretty darn aggressive, especially when they get all puffed up and belch out their loud calls!

Video by The Music of Nature on YouTube