Wordless Wednesday – allow your photo(s) to tell the story.
Linda Schaub
FIFTY FAVORITE PARK PHOTOS
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- Parker noshin’ nuts
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- Fox Squirrel
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- Black Squirrel
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- Parker, my Park cutie!
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- Pekin Duck
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- Mallard Hybrid Duck
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- Midnight munchin’ nuts
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- Mute Swan
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- Goslings
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- Mama Robin
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- Seagulls on ice floe
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- Great Blue Heron
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- Parker chowin’ down
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- Mallard Duck
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- Northern Cardinal
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- Great Blue Heron (“Harry”) fishing for shad
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- Parker: shameless begging
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- Viceroy Butterfly
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- Great Blue Heron
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- American Goldfinch
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- Seagull
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- Robin baby (not fledged yet)
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- Mallard Ducks
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- Robins almost ready to fledge
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- Parker angling for peanuts
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- Robin fledgling
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- Parker making a point that he wants peanuts
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- Parker smells peanuts
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- Parker with a peanut
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- Red-Winged Blackbird
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- Seagull
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- Red-Bellied Woodpecker
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- Pekin Duck
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- Starling
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- Canada Geese family
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- Canada Goose and goslings
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- Red-Winged Blackbird
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- Parker says candy is dandy.
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- Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly
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- American Goldfinch
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- Hunny Bunny
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- Parker looking for peanuts
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- The pier just past sunrise
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- Mute Swan
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- Parker in the snow
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- Parker and a treat
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- Great Blue Heron
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- Me and my shadow (a/k/a Parker)
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- Fox Squirrel
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- Seagull
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- Canada Goose
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- Mallard Ducks
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- Mute Swan
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- Fox Squirrel – Parker
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- Northern Cardinal
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BADGES
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- 02-02-2018
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- 03-13-2018
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- 03-25-2018
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- 03-26-2018
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- Year #6!! 02/2019
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- 04-13-2019
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- 11-21-19
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Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
That’s a very dramatic photo!
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Thank you Anne – a lucky shot for me that I was still standing there taking photos of the cranes (same day as Monday’s post) when this Red-winged Blackbird came out of nowhere to attack this Sandhill Crane. I don’t think it actually grazed it in this photo and the crane didn’t react like it was injured.
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Live drama!
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I should have had it on video!
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Wow, What a lovely Sandhill Crane & Red winged Blackbird. Excellent photography. I like. Near water surrounding green grass.
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Thank you Raj. A lucky shot for me … I was still standing there taking pictures of the cranes (featured in Monday’s post) when this Red-winged Blackbird came along and tried to attack the crane. The Red-winged Blackbirds are mean and attack all birds, even those bigger than they are.
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Blackbirds are very smart & strong! They are atteck on other birds. You are so lucky you captured that time. Very nice!
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Thank you Raj. They are bullies even when they attack bigger birds … they have no fear I guess.
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Okay, thank you so much. I didn’t they have fear!
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Cool shot, Linda!
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Thanks Pam – I was in the right place at the right time when this gutsy Red-winged Blackbird decided to pick on the Sandhill Crane. I don’t think it made contact as the crane never even flinched.
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A serendipitous shot!
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Indeed! It was a brief, but lucky morning!
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What a photo. Good job, Linda.
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Thanks Ally – it was my lucky day for bird shots and I was amazed to see that bullying unfold in front of me!
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The photo has the odd illusion of the crane holding the blackbird while standing on one leg, as if to say, “Ta-dah!” 🙂
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Dave, when I watched the bullying unfold in front of me, I was sure the Red-winged Blackbird grazed the Sandhill Crane, yet all the crane did was raise its foot; it never flinched. I thought to myself “surely it’s not able to kick that bully bird?!” Red-winged Blackbirds terrorize other birds, no matter the size. I’ve seen them go after hawks and geese with their goslings in tow too. Fearless or dumb?
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If you’re referring to the Crane, I say “fearless”. He looks like he could be knocked over with a toothpick!
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Yes, the Crane needs some meat on his bones … a strong wind would blow him away. I actually meant the Red-winged Blackbird was fearless attacking the Crane umpteen times its size. It was like David and Goliath!
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right place, right time……..you can’t teach that stuff,It has to unfold in it’s own time……but of course you have to buy a ticket for admission by being there to begin with!
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That is so true Wayne. Good thing I lingered a bit after the Sandhill Cranes went to the water and reed area or I would not have gotten that shot. My lucky day! What a bully bird this was to attack the crane so much larger than itself. I know you say Crows or Ravens go after Hawks. Red-winged Blackbirds always have an attitude!
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What a great capture, Linda! Just like Wayne commented! I shake my head in wonder sometimes when I see a smaller bird pester a bigger one. Not long ago, I watched a small bird attempting to vex and chase a bald eagle (no pics). I suspect the eagle was playing around and ignoring it.
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Thanks Terri. It amazed me too as that Red-winged Blackbird swooped down for no reason. They are mean birds. I actually have a photo somewhere in here of a Canada Goose and goslings as they were exiting the Creek at a low point and walking up the bank when the Red-winged Blackbird attacked the adult’s head and neck. The goslings just froze. The goose was okay, but it was shocking to see. The R-WB steal eggs from nests – I have seen them do that to a Robin’s nest at the Park while Mom went to get food, so I shooed it away. Mama Robin saw that from afar and attacked the Red-winged Blackbird!
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Fantastic capture, Linda!!! It’s so interesting to see how two different species interact with each other in a natural setting.
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Thanks Barbara! I watched the Red-winged Blackbird coming after this Crane for no reason at all. Though it looks like it might have torpedoed into the Crane, I don’t think it even grazed it as the Crane didn’t even flinch!
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Interesting. I haven’t seen red-winged blackbirds be aggressive here.
That was certainly a surprise for you and the the sandhill crane that day.
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Yes – you’re right about that TD. There we both were, the Crane and I, just minding our own business, when this bully bird came along to interrupt the serenity of the morning!
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Interesting picture! Great timing on your part. For some reason, I stopped getting notices of your posts, so I clicked over from Dan’s blog. WP is weird.
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Thank you Janis – it was good timing to catch these two … the Red-winged Blackbird bullying the Sandhill Crane. I had more pictures of the pair of Sandhill Cranes in Monday’s post and yes WP is weird. I have had that happen in Reader sometimes … I will go to the blog site and find posts there when I thought the blogger was on vacation or on a blogging break.
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Nice shot, Linda! Looks like the sandhill crane might have invaded the blackbirds territory.
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Thanks Rebecca! You know I never looked at it from the blackbird’s point of view. The sandhill crane and its mate had just wandered over to the water and reeds from where I was taking all the photos (from Monday’s post). I just thought the blackbird was being a bully like they often are! Thanks for your insight … I have to change my tune on the “poor crane”.
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Just guessing that it might have a nest nearby. They often nest near water in tall grass.
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I should have thought of that Rebecca. The park where I walk daily has a marshy shoreline on one side of the park and I often see the female red-winged blackbirds darting in and of the reeds and phragmites in the Spring and early Summer. I never thought of the Crane trespassing into their territory as much as I thought of the red-winged blackbird bullying the Crane.
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Those red-winged blackbirds are fierce when defending their territory!
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I should have thought about that Laurie. I was feeling sorry for the Crane. Last year at the Park there was a dead baby red-winged blackbird on the perimeter path. It was fully feathered and had fledged but had died. As I walked around this baby bird, an adult male red-winged blackbird started dive bombing me … I was amazed at how close he came to me. At first I thought he was looking for peanuts – they eat them and a few of them will come down to the path, like a bluejay or cardinal, waiting for me to toss a peanut. A guy caught up with me a few minutes later and said he had the same thing happen the first time around … it was admirable that the adult wanted to preserve its offspring from people who might accidentally step on it … such a fierce love. I did not go back and walked on the other side for the rest of my walk.
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Once my running route included a tree-lined street near my house. Tree swallows had built nests in the trees. I regularly got dive-bombed by swallows protecting their babies. I started avoiding that street!
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It is amazing that these birds attack us when we are not doing anything but happening by. Years ago our neighbor had a tree and Blue Jays nested in it. A man was walking down our street, not bothering anyone and the Jay flew down and attacked him. The man was bald and the bird was repeatedly pecking his head so fiercely, the man fell to the ground, with blood running everywhere. The neighbor called 911 … the man later returned to thank the neighbor for helping him. They looked up in the tree and discovered the nest.
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Awesome photo, Linda! I’ve had Red-wingers lunging at me a lot. Their territory is “theirs”… and that’s it! 😳
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Tom, they sure are belligerent for their size. Talk about being narrow-minded!
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There ought to be somewhere to submit that photo. Do you have a Conservationist magazine (or something similar) there? Or perhaps there’s a bird watcher magazine. There’s birds and blooms, of course.
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Thank you Zazzy! I actually got a link from a fellow Michigander earlier this week after Ruth liked the Cranes from Monday’s post and passed on that info. I have been following Birds & Blooms for years on Facebook after stopping my subscription when I lost almost everything in the backyard due to the Polar Vortex of 2013-2014. I do like the pictures that people send in – they feature them every day on their site. Maybe I should try there, not a contest, but in general. I think you have to be a member of Detroit Audubon to contribute to their “Flyaway” Magazine. I also follow the Detroit Audubon website. Maybe one day I’d join their group but not ’til I am retired as they go out every weekend and I do my own walking/photographing on weekends. I think it is an unusual picture, kind of a David and Goliath sort of photo. Thank you for inspiring me to do something with this photo!
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What a stunning picture Linda, great shot and beautiful birds!
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Thank you Diane! I see you saw the Monday post with the pair of Sandhill Cranes and this is one of the pair. I was just amazed when the Red-winged Blackbird went after the Crane that was so much bigger than it was!
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The red coloring on both of the bird’s really pops in your photo!
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That was really a lucky shot for me JP … both of these birds and their vibrants reds, but the disparity in size amazed me. I was feeling badly for the crane, but I should have realized what others told me in comments, that the crane encroached on the blackbird’s territory, so it reacted.
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