Yellow-headed Blackbird: Success!

The thought of the Yellow-headed Blackbird was haunting me still after not finding it yesterday. I had to swing by the sighting spot again. There was another birder there who had driven all the way from the Tampa area to try and find it.

We sat on a cement culvert and waited. She had thought she had spotted it briefly before it disappeared into the reeds. So, wait we did.

After nearly and hour it appeared! It hung close to the reed and preened for what seemed like forever. Not a good view for a shot. But I took several anyway just for positive ID purposes.

Satisfied with her find, the woman headed home. Said she had a dog to walk after a long drive home. I stayed and waited longer, hoping the bird would come out in the open. Some folks visiting the restaurant next the the spot noticed my camera and came over to chat. Wanted to know if there were good hiking spots nearby for visitors to explore.

I notice that whenever I am out with this new digital camera I get more curious people asking either what I am taking photos of and since I seem to know about birds then I must know other outdoor information. Luckily, I do!

Right after the last visitor got their info from me the bird seemed to be done with preening and began to slide down toward the water for a drink. Then, it hopped out onto the fence.



There he was! Just looking around and posing. Even though it was at a bit of a distance I thought my shots were more in focus. Maybe my heart was pounding more than I realized in this shady spot holding a long lens at its max focus.



I managed one more full shot just before it vanished back into the bull rushes to hide.



Ah, success. Now I could go home and forget about this wayward bird. Or could I...?