I meant to share this Red-winged Blackbird video clip earlier, but I hadn’t gotten around to merging the two videos and processing them until last night.

The videos were recorded during my last trip to Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge on November 19th.

You can view the view on YouTube here.

There is something about murmurations of birds that fascinates, excites, and mesmerizes me. The noise of their wings, the fluid movements of the birds, and the grace with which they fly in these murmurations—all combined—is truly amazing.

In the interest of full disclosure, the second part of the video clip, with the birds in the tree and the blue sky, has been altered a bit.

The people I was with weren’t aware I was taking video—through no fault of theirs—and they were talking.

So, I removed the audio from that clip, extracted the audio from the first clip, and duplicated it in the second clip. It kind of worked out nicely, I might add.

I thought the blackbirds lifting off from the tree were simply too good not to share.

Speaking of blackbirds, besides the Red-winged Blackbirds, there were some Common Grackles mixed in with the flocks and perhaps even a Rusty Blackbird or two. I truly hope to take more Rusty Blackbird photos soon to add to my galleries.

Male Red-winged Blackbird displaying on the marsh, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, UtahMale Red-winged Blackbird displaying on the marsh – Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah

What I didn’t take that day were any frame-filling images of the blackbirds or grackles, so I thought I’d share this photo of a displaying male Red-winged Blackbird I took in Utah in February 2020.

I hadn’t shared this photo before because I didn’t like the tan background. I saw that tan color so often in Utah that I grew tired of it.

But the pose of the displaying blackbird in this photo is wonderful. Today felt like the right time to share it. And why not? I still have plenty of photo gems waiting to be shared.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Red-winged Blackbird photos plus facts and information about this species.