Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Rusty Blackbird

In the early afternoon of 7 November 2014, I drove over to the east end of Fish Creek Provincial Park and was lucky enough to see two of these beautiful Rusty Blackbirds. IUCN Status: Vulnerable. I very rarely see these birds – in fact, I think I have only ever seen one once before and no photos. It was interesting to watch this one pick up and then toss aside endless fallen leaves along the edge of a tiiny creek, to check underneath them for food. Eventually, it did find a big, fat, juicy water worm of some kind, and ate it. As you can see from the photo, this bird is camouflaged quite well in those surroundings. “The Rusty Blackbird is one of North America’s most rapidly declining species. The population has plunged an estimated 85-99 percent over the past forty years and scientists are completely puzzled as to what is the cause. They are relatively uncommon denizens of wooded swamps, breeding in the boreal forest and wintering in the eastern U.S. In winter, they travel in small flocks and are identified by their distinctive rusty feather edges and pallid yellow eyes.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/rusty_blackbird/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_blackbird rustyblackbird.org/

In the early afternoon of 7 November 2014), I drove over to the east end of Fish Creek Park and was lucky enough to see two of these beautiful Rusty Blackbirds. IUCN Status: Vulnerable. Think I've only ever seen this species once before, so this was a thrill. The previous time was when a few of us we saw a total of 16 of them along the edge of the Bow River on 28 October 2012, between Hull's Wood and LaFarge Meadow. It was interesting to watch this one when it flew down to the very tiny stream below this tree and pick up and then toss aside endless leaves to check underneath them for food. Eventually, it did find a big, fat, juicy water worm or slug of some kind, and eat it. “The Rusty Blackbird is one of North America’s most rapidly declining species. The population has plunged an estimated 85-99 percent over the past forty years and scientists are completely puzzled as to what is the cause. They are relatively uncommon denizens of wooded swamps, breeding in the boreal forest and wintering in the eastern U.S. In winter, they travel in small flocks and are identified by their distinctive rusty feather edges and pallid yellow eyes.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/rusty_blackbird/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_blackbird rustyblackbird.org/

In the early afternoon of 7 November 2014, I drove over to the east end of Fish Creek Park and was lucky enough to see two of these beautiful Rusty Blackbirds. IUCN Status: Vulnerable. I very rarely see these birds, so I’m always glad when I do see one. It was interesting to watch this one pick up and then toss aside endless leaves to check underneath them for food. Eventually, it did find a big, fat, juicy water worm of some kind, and ate it. As you can see from the photo, this bird is camouflaged quite well in those surroundings. “The Rusty Blackbird is one of North America’s most rapidly declining species. The population has plunged an estimated 85-99 percent over the past forty years and scientists are completely puzzled as to what is the cause. They are relatively uncommon denizens of wooded swamps, breeding in the boreal forest and wintering in the eastern U.S. In winter, they travel in small flocks and are identified by their distinctive rusty feather edges and pallid yellow eyes.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/rusty_blackbird/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_blackbird rustyblackbird.org/

Early afternoon on 7 November 2014, I drove over to the east end of Fish Creek Park and was lucky enough to see two of these beautiful Rusty Blackbirds. IUCN Status: Vulnerable. I rarely see these birds, so I’m always glad when I do see one. It was interesting to watch this one pick up and then flip one leaf after another, to check underneath them for food. Eventually, it did find a big, fat, juicy water worm of some kind, and eat it. “The Rusty Blackbird is one of North America’s most rapidly declining species. The population has plunged an estimated 85-99 percent over the past forty years and scientists are completely puzzled as to what is the cause. They are relatively uncommon denizens of wooded swamps, breeding in the boreal forest and wintering in the eastern U.S. In winter, they travel in small flocks and are identified by their distinctive rusty feather edges and pallid yellow eyes.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/rusty_blackbird/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_blackbird rustyblackbird.org/

Yesterday (7 November 2014) early afternoon, I drove over to the east end of Fish Creek Park and was lucky enough to see two of these beautiful Rusty Blackbirds. IUCN Status: Vulnerable. I rarely see these birds, so I’m always glad when I do see one. It was interesting to watch this one pick up and then toss aside endless leaves to check underneath them for food. Eventually, it did find a big, fat, juicy water worm of some kind, and eat it. “The Rusty Blackbird is one of North America’s most rapidly declining species. The population has plunged an estimated 85-99 percent over the past forty years and scientists are completely puzzled as to what is the cause. They are relatively uncommon denizens of wooded swamps, breeding in the boreal forest and wintering in the eastern U.S. In winter, they travel in small flocks and are identified by their distinctive rusty feather edges and pallid yellow eyes.” From AllAboutBirds. www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/rusty_blackbird/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_blackbird rustyblackbird.org/ It's 3C this morning. I've just checked the weather network website and found this - "STORM WATCH: Arctic blast to bring snow and plunging temperatures to Alberta." Supposed to get a few snow flurries this evening and then snow all day tomorrow. Lol, when it says "90% chance of", you know there's no escaping the white stuff. Will be out all day tomorrow with my youngest daughter - the roads are going to be so bad, I know it. Pretty cold temperatures all this coming week, with -14C on Tuesday. Stay warm, everyone!

Not the greatest shot (OK in this size), but my first shot of a Rusty Blackbird. I'd never really seen one of these birds properly, but we saw a total of 16 of them along the edge of the Bow River on 28 October 2012, between Hull's Wood and LaFarge Meadow. When I was taking the photos and looking through my viewfinder, they seemed to be just plain, dark birds, but when I checked the images, the beautiful rust colour showed itself. Lol, I've only just this second noticed that it looks as if the bottom edge of the photo (i.e. snow) has been ripped off, leaving a jagged edge. "Rusty Blackbird is one of North America’s most rapidly declining species. The population has plunged an estimated 85-99 percent over the past forty years and scientists are completely puzzled as to what is the cause. They are relatively uncommon denizens of wooded swamps, breeding in the boreal forest and wintering in the eastern U.S. In winter, they travel in small flocks and are identified by their distinctive rusty featheredges and pallid yellow eyes." www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rusty_Blackbird/id en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusty_Blackbird