Showdown At Deer Creek

I had an encounter with a Red-Winged Blackbird at Deer Creek Wildlife Management Area the other day. Maybe you might really call it a showdown. This bird did not want me to be there at all. It did its best to warn me off, but it mostly didn't work. Mostly.

I wish my pictures could have captured the best of the drama, but I just wasn't quick enough.  I was actually distracted at the time because I was busy geocaching. I had to keep switching apps on the phone and I wasn't fast enough. Let me explain better.

This bird kept hovering right above my head and squawking at me. Whenever I would get the camera ready the bird would fly to the side and land on a tree nearby. I was a little frustrated by that, but I was even more distracted looking for the cache.

In the end, I came to the realization that the cache I was looking for was maybe very close to this blackbird's nest. So that was the end of my search. I knew when it was time to back down. I didn't want to cause this poor bird any more distress.

And looky here! I have another brand new episode of Rat TV for you today. It shows this red-winged blackbird desperately clinging to a treetop on this very windy day. It was up there because it didn't want to lose sight of this evil rat-suited invader that was lurking to near to its nest.

There really is a bird in the picture above. You just can't see him. Actually, you can see it if you look very closely. I could have cropped the photo to give you a better look, but I thought it looked better this way. I kind of like this picture.

None of my pictures of this bird today are very good. The bird never came out very well because the phone camera just wasn't up to the task. It's made for more close up pictures. I'll have to start bringing my big camera with me again. I like the feeling of freedom I get with the smaller camera, but the bigger one zooms in at things like birds so much better.

Now that I'm getting out more and taking more pictures I'm finding the need for the better zoom again. I knew it would happen eventually. So now maybe I'll get more animals to share with you. We'll see. Either way, I think I'll have some good stuff. I'll talk to you later.