Thursday, August 20, 2009

I'll be back....

While visiting Wisconsin at the end of July we took a few hours one afternoon and visited the Horicon Marsh located southwest of Fond du Lac. This marsh is huge!!!.. 32,000 acres in size, the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the whole USA. It provides a habitat for endangered species and is a critical rest stop for thousands of migrating ducks and geese. Needless to say with only two hours we didn't get to tread many of the hundreds of trails around this marsh. What we did get to see was beautiful..the board walk was a welcome site after tramping around aircraft all day...so quiet and peaceful...

We saw two white pelicans..who seemed inseparable...floating by..giving me plenty of time to snap their picture. What a nice walk . We slowly made our way back to the car...and as we were leaving...

along came "that" bird... you know the one!! HEY, look at this guy...ohhh, I've never seen one like this before..stop the car.. let me out!! Tina, rushing up the side of the road..camera in hand.....click click click...
I walk a little faster and so does he.....I'm now power walking and so is he...
Click click click!! Stop and turn around...pleaseeee.


Nope, I'm not making any progress.. as I move closer he waddles farther away...click click..gosh how many pictures have I taken of his behind??
I never did get a great shot of this bird but I'm guessing he is a Yellow-headed blackbird. I felt like I followed him a quarter of a mile along the side of the road. I think he was playing me....

and that's alright.. I took it as a future challenge.. and as Arnold would say, "I'll be back" and then I will get a photo of this bird in all his colorful glory.... ;-0 okay, he did get the best of me. bird/ 1 tina/ 0 next year.. buddy, next yr..

22 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Maybe he was camera shy?
I've yet to see a Yellow-headed Blackbird. That sure looks like a lovely spot.

Gail said...

I love those docks or decks or whatever they are called. I would love to have those on our pond.

The birds were beautiful.

Eve said...

Wow lucky you Tina!! You win a contest and then you get to see a Yellow-headed Blackbird!!!
Fantastic!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Wow---a yellow-headed blackbird??? That is neat. I've never seen one. You sound like me --when we see a waterfall along the highway. "Stop the car. I need to get a picture".... ha ha

GREAT shots...
Hugs,
Betsy

Janice K said...

Boy, he is very pretty. Definitely not a bird we see around here.

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

Yes,this is a Yellow-headed Blackbird.The marsh looks like a wonderful place to spend a day at least.
Blessings,Ruth

Chris said...

Hi Tina,
How cool!!! It looks like this nice black bird was playing with your nerves, but at least you know where to find one next year. Eventually you will get a nice shot at it... This is something that happen to me all the time, only get the butt of the bird!

Jann said...

It must be a yellow-headed blackbird, that is molting I'm guessing cause the head, neck and chest are 'normally' solid yellow. They're exciting to see! Nice post!

George said...

I can understand why you want to go back -- it looks absolutely beautiful. I've never seen a yellow-headed blackbird. I'm confident you'll get him next year.

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Tina: What a neat bird, we have a lot of blackbirds but none with yellow heads.

Chris Petrak said...

Yellow-headed is a great blackbird! - but then I like most blackbirds, because they are so interesting, adaptable, and varied. Pelican too!

FAB said...

Definitely more colourful than our Blackbirds. Hopefully next time he will look you straight in the eye!

Leedra said...

That first photo appeals to me. But you know what is funny, I probably would not have taken a photograph from that angle. Look what I would have missed.

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Anonymous said...

Beautiful bird and well said words.

I have the issue of "breast feeding" on my main blog today Pick a Peck of Pixels

NCmountainwoman said...

Lovely photographs. Horicon is such a wonder. You should try to get back there during migration. The sight of those thousands of birds leaving at dawn is truly unbelievable.

Jack said...

Thanks for the link..I got some good pictures from yous blog..i have saved to my comp as well..thanks for sharing..

--
Jack
You cannot go wrong on the best security systems

Dawn Fine said...

Tina..
Hee hee i am just imagining you chasing that bird down the road!
It is a beautiful Blackbird..I have seen them in Arizona by the hundreds..what a sight!
Saw a few white pelicans fly overhead recently in Montana..
Catcha later..
♥♥

Shelley said...

maybe he was playing follow the leader? LOL! Cute!!

Andy said...

Nice series.

troutbirder said...

What a great place. We visited there last fall on the way back home from Milwaukee. It was 35 degrees and strong winds. No time to get out of the car so a return trip is in order!

Unknown said...

WOW, you get a perfect 10 for trying Tina, How I wish he gave you that one look that we all keep searching for when photographing birds.

Going by the photographs and the narration I realized that you were trying to get him on foot, Maybe next time you might want to consider using your car as a hide.

Peggy said...

No matter what, you did get the Yellow-headed Blackbird. I cannot say that! Lucky!

would like to hear your thoughts..