Image-of-the-Day by Subject

Image-of-the-Day by Subject

Birds - Blackbird Page 3

Image Taken on 18 Feb 2008 at 15:45 Image of day on 19 Mar 2008

Blackbird female collecting nesting material. No sign of the male helping, which doesn't mean he isn't collecting elsewhere.

Ref: 20080319_d3b_20080218_1545_035 fb1 blackbird female collecting nesting material (q)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 07 May 2023 at 12:23 Image of day on 27 Jun 2023

At the smaller end of the bird spectrum, Blackbirds are still nest building. These two pics an hour apart.

Ref: 20230627_e63_20230507_1223_278+1313_282_fb1 blackbird female collecting nesting material at hedge bottom (montage over 1 hour)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 04 Apr 2015 at 12:22 Image of day on 21 May 2015

Wattle and Daub, Blackbird style.
This female Blackbird & her mate are making a nest in Ivy just outside the living room window. Most of the material is collect from the edge of the pond 10 metres or so away - a mix of dry vegetation and mud to cement the nest together.
This first load seems to be pure mud from the pond margin.

Ref: 20150521_df3_20150404_1222_076 blackbird female collecting wet and dry nesting material (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 04 Apr 2015 at 14:07 Image of day on 21 May 2015

The female Blackbird's next load is about as much dry grass as she can cram into her beak.

Ref: 20150521_df3_20150404_1407_105 blackbird female collecting wet and dry nesting material (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 04 Apr 2015 at 15:16 Image of day on 21 May 2015

The female Blackbird seems to have collected a mix of dry grass & sodden weeds from the edge of the pond.

Ref: 20150521_df3_20150404_1516_115 blackbird female collecting wet and dry nesting material(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 03 Feb 2014 at 16:08 Image of day on 19 Mar 2014

BBC 'Winterwatch' seems to think birds don't like apple!
But they put out typical barely-ripe pristine apples as bait. What the birds want is the soft old stuff humans don't like!

Ref: 20140319_d50_20140203_1608_042_fb1 blackbird female eating apple (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 04 Feb 2014 at 08:56 Image of day on 19 Mar 2014

Another day - another windfall apple - you can see the multiple pecking this one has received.

Ref: 20140319_d50_20140204_0856_090_fb1 blackbird female eating apple (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image of day on 25 Jan 2005

This blackbird and her mate are regular visitors and love to eat apple peelings (along with just about every other creature)

Ref: 20050125_d3c_07813 fb2 blackbird female eating apple 2005jan22_16-50-50(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 06 Aug 2025 at 06:14 Image of day on 21 Sep 2025

She moved down to the juvenile a few metres towards the house, and proceeded to give some of the fruit to her youngster. Mum is on the right - top to bottom in this montage.

Ref: 20250921_df2_20250806_0614_012+014+015 blackbird female feeding blackberries to juvenile on front gravel 04+06+07 of 10 (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 06 Aug 2025 at 06:14 Image of day on 21 Sep 2025

This time probably a different female Blackbird was spotted through an upstairs window of the house, out on the edge of the access track. She has one or two Blackberry fruits in her beak.

Ref: 20250921_df2_20250806_0614_004 blackbird female feeding blackberries to juvenile on house front gravel 01 of 10 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 06 Aug 2017 at 08:47 Image of day on 21 Sep 2017

The patch of land that spent a few years under a rotting heap of straw bales is providing a good hunting ground for many species. You can't 'sneak up' on the patch, so only human-tolerant birds get their pics taken there. Here one of the female Blackbirds gave us a suspicious look and then carried on probing the loose soil. We see her many days that we walk by this patch on the track perhaps 20m away.

Ref: 20170921_df3_20170806_0847_012 blackbird female feeding in loose soil where straw bales removed(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 20 Jul 2025 at 18:35 Image of day on 06 Sep 2025

Blackbird's Flying Delivery Service.
A play on words from 'Kiki's Flying Delivery Service' a favourite anime movie from Hayao Miyazaki now also a live Japanese action movie - not as good as the anime, but quite fun.

Ref: 20250906_e6a_20250720_1835_022_fb5 blackbird female flying away with worms in beak(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 22 Mar 2022 at 05:31 Image of day on 23 Apr 2022

A female Blackbird double-footed hopping over the site. The number of different 'walking' gaits used by birds is fascinating.

Ref: 20220423_e63_20220322_0531_060_fb1 blackbird female hopping across hedge bottom(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 10 Aug 2011 at 20:33 Image of day on 22 Sep 2011

Couldn't resist this elegant if aggressive female blackbird. Whatever was to the right was out of frame.

Ref: 20110922_d5c_20110810_2033_098_fb2 blackbird female in aggressive posture(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 26 Aug 2025 at 14:44 Image of day on 17 Oct 2025

This female Blackbird looks really grumpy as she sits in the hidden bath water.
Birds faces don't have expressions - any assigned by facial features is anthropomorphism. On the other hand the whole bird's posture can often indicate a state of mind.

Ref: 20251017_e6a_20250826_1444_150_fb5 blackbird female in bird bath hidden behind log at meadow site(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 04 Jun 2017 at 14:42 Image of day on 31 Jul 2017

A female Blackbird decorating, or being decorated by, Buttercups and Clover.

Ref: 20170731_e62_20170604_1442_142_fb5 blackbird female in buttercups and clover(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image of day on 07 Feb 2005

Hen Blackbird just taken off from the log feeding area.

Ref: 20050207_d3e_09270 fb1 blackbird female in flight 2005feb04_07-53-40(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 15 Jan 2024 at 14:53 Image of day on 09 Feb 2024

Here a female Blackbird was searching inside this Hawthorn tree, undoubtedly looking for berries. In this pic we can see two Haws top and bottom left.

Ref: 20240209_df3_20240115_1453_002 blackbird female in hawthorn tree with 2 berries visible(r+mb id@768).jpg

Image Taken on 12 Dec 2019 at 11:46 Image of day on 17 Jan 2020

A drenched female Blackbird has to come out to feed regardless of the rain. Small birds don't have great reserved to sit out bad weather.

Ref: 20200117_e62_20191212_1146_025_fb5 blackbird female in heavy rain(r+mb id@576).jpg

Image Taken on 14 Dec 2019 at 10:03 Image of day on 17 Jan 2020

Did we mention it's been raining?

Ref: 20200117_e63_20191214_1003_107_fb1 blackbird female in heavy rain(r+mb id@576).jpg

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