red-winged blackbird babies

finally got back to W. wetlands boardwalk this afternoon- wanted to check up on the young Blue Herons that I blipped in the nest on 2-28. They are still there, though almost adult size, and most of their feathers in. Mom and I got to see the 2 juveniles do a greeting "dance" with one of the parents when it returned to the nest with food. There are several other young ones in nearby nests, also.

But there's always something new going on out there, and we happened (by checking out where someone else was taking photos) to find this nest. It was in a bush right by the boardwalk, and when we leaned over the handrail, we could see two little babies. After I got several shots of them, the Mom appeared on the scene. We were trying to figure out what kind of bird she was, as I was taking more shots, when one of the "serious" birders that are there all the time walked by, and told us it was a red-winged blackbird. That made sense, since a male red-wing was right behind us in another bush while we were close, and also landed on the handrail. I always try to get photos of the red-winged blackbirds out there, they remind me of seeing them at my Grandmother's house in Ct. growing up. I don't usually pay as much attention to the females, although I vaguely knew they were brown. But from my shots, and checking the books, this is- she also had a little shoulder cap of another color. Before we left, another birder told us the babies were 4 days old, they'd been watching the eggs.
I was also very impressed with the weaving of the nest, when I looked at the photos at home. (now I have another reason to want to go back soon :-))