May 29, 2022 - Yellow-headed Blackbirds

About a week ago, Diana and I drove to Cohasset, MN, to look for Yellow-headed Blackbirds. They’ve nested most years in a spot along the Mississippi River, and that’s where we found them again this year. This is an adult male.

BlackbirdYellowheadedmaleCohassetItascaCounty20220521

This is a female Yellow-headed Blackbird. She has brown feathers with a yellow breast and some yellow on her head. She also has white spots on her chest.

BlackbirdYellowheadedfemaleCohassetItascaCounty20220521

The males were trying to impress the females. They would perch on the thin stalks of last year’s cattails and belt out their raucous call. The call is definitely not melodious and has been described as sounding like a rusty gate being opened.

BlackbirdYellowheadedmaleCohassetItascaCounty20220521

This bird presents an identification problem. At first glance, it looks like a female Yellow-headed Blackbird. But notice that there are no white spots on the chest. In addition, there are small white spots on the wings like those on a male. So this is a second year male who just hasn’t molted into full adult plumage yet.

BlackbirdYellowheadedmaleCohassetItascaCounty20220521

When a male Yellow-headed Blackbird flies, you can see that the tiny white spots on his wings are actually fairly large white patches.

BlackbirdYellowheadedmaleflightCohassetItascaCounty20220521

On our way back home, we stopped at Trout Lake near Bovey. Here’s one of the two Caspian Terns that were among the many Ring-billed Gulls at the boat landing.

TernCaspianandGullRingbilledTroutLakeBoveyItascaCounty20220521

At this time of the year, we always look for Marsh Marigolds along the road the leads to our house. They were in full bloom, and this was a nice patch of them.

MarigoldMarshDunningLakeminingroadItascaCounty20220521

Here’s a closer look at some Marsh Marigolds.

MarigoldMarshDunningLakeminingroadItascaCounty20220521

This is also the time of year that Bloodroot blooms. Diana tells me that the white petals of the flower would be fully open if it was sunny instead of cloudy. But the leaves always fold around the stem like they do in this photo.

BloodrootDunningLakeminingroadItascaCounty20220521