From the standpoint of being able to present this bird to you the image makes me very happy. From a photographic view, well, not so much. And here is why. There are ten-thousands of Red-winged Blackbirds here in Iowa. You can find them along almost every road or railroad track and it is not so difficult to make images of them. It is a totally different story with the Yellow-headed Blackbird. I know only one location in Eastern Iowa where I have found them so far. Some birders may know a few more places but what I'm trying to say is, they are not abundant here. Every summer (except last year during the draught) I found one or two couples in a small pond in the Green Island Wetlands. Before you may see them you usually can hear them. Their call is very distinctive, almost like a crow, but they hide mostly in the lower parts of the reeds in this small lake. The problem is the distance that I can't overcome because this blackbird always sits in the same area in the middle of the pond. There is a dead tree in the reeds that is the birds main perch. This tree was down last weekend and luckily it felt towards the shore. The male blackbird still uses the branches to perch and is now about 6-7 feet closer to the best shooting location on the shore. However, this is still not close enough for a frame filling image with a lot of detail. Sure, I zoom in a little bit but it doesn't deliver necessarily more detail in the feathers of the bird. With other words, I still wait for the image I like to make...
I talked with a guy who lived in Green Island in his younger years but still comes back to enjoy the beauty of its wildlife. He told me that in the old days Yellow-headed Blackbirds were found almost everywhere in this area. It is my concern that this beautiful bird may disappear one of these days. My observations tell me that a lot is done to please hunters and fishermen but very little is done to protect bird habitats that really need our attention...
