Jon and Marty;

Back around in 1958 or 1959 I trapped an all white Red-winged Blackbird with
just a faint trace of red epaulets. Don't remember whether the eyes were red
like an albino or the brownish-black of a normal bird of the species. Took
pictures of it which I deposited in Sacramento NW Refuge files. Don't know if
they're still there. Interesting bird.

We had thousands of Red-wings in the Sacramento Valley, and they were very
hard on rice crops there. Might still be.

Gene Kridler
Ye Olde Broken Down Biologist
Jon. Anderson and Marty Chaney wrote:

> Hi folks,
>
> I took a noon walk yesterday toward the 'Swantown' Marina in downtown
> Olympia. There is a bit of waste land between the Port of Oly's log dumps
> and the 'East Bay' Marina along Marine Drive which has a bit of 'wetland'
> vegetation, some cattails and willow/alder along the edges.
>
> A number of red-winged blackbirds were displaying and calling. Then, a
> flash of white drew my attention. A male red-wing had a pure white rump
> patch, and had white outer rectrices. Neat-looking bird!
>
> Jon. Anderson
> Olympia, Washington
> festuca at olywa.net