Red-winged Blackbirds, Green Island Wetlands, Mississippi Valley, Iowa
One of the stories I heard and read quite often after I moved from Europe to North America is that the return of the Red-winged Blackbird at the end of winter here in the Midwest, is a sure sign that spring is not far away. This was true for many years since I photograph wildlife in the Upper Mississippi Valley. Not so much anymore since about the last three years. I have seen Red-winged Blackbirds during all of my frequent visits in the Green Island Wetlands, even at really cold times. It seems the blackbirds stay much further north during the winter now.
Today I had quite a large flock in front of the lens. Hard to guess how many, but at least several hundred. The birds either rested in trees or went down to the ground all together, foraging between the reeds of the marshland or patches of corn fields that were left intentionally by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
I asked myself, how can this story be told with the camera? I wanted as many red wings in the frame as possible. It was also important to have some snow in the picture. The compressed view through the 600 mm lens hides the snow on the ground between the reeds, but the rocky slope of the Mississippi Valley, far in the back, delivers some white between all the birds and an open spot on the left hand side adds as well. There was enough light to shoot with exposure times between 1/1000s and 1/4000s and the best results came with the sun right from behind.
Rough-legged Hawk
The blackbirds were closely watched by a Rough-legged Hawk. During summer time on their breeding grounds in the arctic tundra they eat mostly small rodents, like lemmings and voles. The Red-winged Blackbirds didn’t hesitate to land in trees right next to the hawk. I wonder if the raptor just waited to get a hold of a slow straggler or if he hoped to catch mice that may come out of the snow covered ground for seeds or corn the birds had dropped…