Friday 29 November 2013

Yellow-headed Blackbirds at Long Point

I'm back to blogging, wow has it been a while. Once you take a break, sometimes it's hard to get back into it. Plus you have to find something worth blogging about - and that day was today!

I'll make this short and sweet. Heading west of Long Point looking for Mike Burrell's previously e-birded Greater White-fronted Geese I ran into a flock of blackbirds feeding along Gore Rd. There were a lot of Rustys so I thought I'd try and pick out a Brewer's. I ended up e-birding ~800 RUBL, so maybe that's why I didn't see a Brewers.

Anyways, at the corner of Gore and Concession A I looked up into a tree and was shocked to see a gorgeous male Yellow-headed Blackbird. I quickly texted some local birders, and looked back up to see another YHBL a short distance away! I couldn't believe my luck.

Here's a phone-scoped shot of the female/immature male. Feel free to make comments on the sex.

If you go to look for these YHBLs it might take a while. Even with 5 people looking it can be tough to pick them out if obscured by corn stubble, tree branches, and raptors keep putting them up.