Hi Tweeters,

Early this afternoon I found a female Rusty Blackbird in a flock of over
2000 blackbirds that included Brewer's, Red-winged and Yellow-headed
Blackbirds, starlings and a few Brown-headed Cowbirds.

I found the flock at about noon in the field northwest of the intersection
of Marion Drain Road and Lateral C southwest of Toppenish. Just before 2:00
many of them landed on the power line above the bridge over Marion Drain. I
picked out the Rusty Blackbird and was lucky that it stayed on the wire for
about four minutes while I took photos. This is my first Rusty Blackbird in
Yakima County after many hours of scanning blackbird flocks over the years.

This Rusty Blackbird doesn't have any rust left on it. Rusty Blackbirds
molt into their winter plumage sometime in the fall. The rust color slowly
wears off during the winter. This female Rusty has a wide, pale eyeline and
pale throat, with some slight paleness on its breast and upper back. In the
next month or two, the pale color will wear off, leaving it with its
breeding plumage.

Photos of the female Rusty Blackbird are in the new photos folder on my
website:

http://www.granstrand.net/gallery/new

Denny Granstrand


* * * * * * * * * * * *
Denny Granstrand
Yakima, WA
dgranstrand AT gmail.com
Denny Granstrand's bird photos can be seen at:

www.granstrand.net/gallery/
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