Singing with gusto

Today's photo is one of the most common birds throughout the continental US, the red-winged blackbird.  He can be found in reeds, cattails and marshy areas, singing his distinctive "conk-a-ree" song.  Here, he's using a sign post (clearly one that's been used a lot, judging on the mess) to sing his big song, hoping to impress the ladies.  And if you look closely, you can see his tongue sticking out between his beak - which is why I chose this shot!

Red-winged blackbird males will vigorously defend their territory, which may have as many as 15 breeding females.  However,  tests have shown that 1/4 to 1/2 of females in a nesting territory have chicks sired by someone other than the defending male!  Polygamy is alive and well in blackbirds.  

I posted another shot of a male red-wing doing an impressive wing display, here.  I hope to get better photographs of this interesting behavior this season.

It was a cold and windy day so I waited until afternoon to venture out for a walk - even then, I was bundled in a polar fleece. Brrrr.  Not a lot of action in the yard today, except for the usual feeder birds.  And, of course, my resident pair of house wrens - with papa singing from the top of the cherry tree to scare off any nearby males.  

I posted two shots of the goslings (who are getting bigger) and the wren starting HERE on Flickr.  I was very happy to see that all 18 goslings were alive and well today.  I had feared that Creepy Dude and his wolf-dog might have returned.

The Cat Spats continue, although there more periods now where they just watch each other.  We did have a bit of fur flying briefly this morning, until I got the squirt bottle out.  That subdued everyone rather quickly  - with both cats retreating to their safe spots to plot and brood.  The saga continues...

TTFN and Happy Hump Day!