Brewer's Blackbirds

I just returned from a fabulous week in the magnificent Colorado Rocky Mountains. What better time would there be to post some photos of Rocky Mountain birds? Over the course of the week, I identified either by sight or sound approximately 60 birds. Of those, 38 made their way into my camera's viewfinder, and of those 38 perhaps about 1/3 of those became acceptable photos.  Everytime I have a "just miss" oppurtunity to get the photo I want, I get frustrated, but then I have to tell myself - that's what's fun about bird photography - it's always a challenge.  Getting a good bird picture is like getting a hit in baseball - you're doing good if you get a hit 30% of the time. Sometimes I am lucky by being in the right place at the right time, and sometimes I get lucky by coming across an unusually bold bird who doesn't scare easily and gives me plenty of chances to try to get it right.

I'll start out my series of Rocky Mountain birds with the Brewer's Blackbird, which we can find migrating through Northern Illinois in early Spring (April and May), but they settle their summers in the Mountain States (Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Utah), Canada and the North Midwestern states (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and North Dakota). They are very bold, especially if you get too near their nests. They will hover over you and chip at you until they feel you are no longer a danger to their nesting site. The photo below of a female Brewer's Blackbird was taken in Silverthorne, CO on 7-4-10. As you can see by the picture, she was squawking up a storm.

The photo below is of a male Brewer's Blackbird (note their very dramatic white eye - gives them a demon-like quality) was taken in Rocky Mountain National Park, near the Moraine Park campground.on 7-8-10.

Both of these specific birds were quick to tell me that I had better move on and not linger around their neighborhood; however, being as I was slightly bigger than either of them, I stayed put until the photos were taken. Below, the same two birds were giving me their famous stare down.

No birds were harmed in the taking of these photos.