Red-winged Blackbird - female - Garso, North Ronaldsay - 30 April & 1 May 2017
 

A selection of record shots of the longstaying female Red-winged Blackbird - first for Britain - currently on Orkney.

'It is in that iris bed and when located, it will fly and land on those gas cylinders.......'

All the best

Paul

Then.........

'It will occasionally fly up and land on that chimney.....'

All the best

Paul

The next day - the first three pictures show the iris bed and then the bird back on the cylinders - honest.......

All the best

Paul

Final batch including a couple on a telegraph pole - sparrowhawk avoidance.........

All the best

Paul

I'd recently heard about this rarity in Britain.
Here's the Audubon page I read it on:
http://www.audubon.org/news/british-...nged-blackbird

Hit the news over here too, but we just sort of chuckled. My patch is a breeding ground for them. Of course at the moment, it is a sad state of affairs as the Ottawa River has flooded higher than recorded history and all the swamps and marshes are metres under water.
PS, we get all tingly when we hear about a pink-footed goose sighting nearby.....

Had no idea red winged blackbirds are rare in the UK. I have a bunch of them in my backyard, they raid the bird feeder.

Nice shots

Not so much rare, as non-existent (well apart from this one)

I heard from a local birder here in Oklahoma about this. I was shocked because Red-winged Blackbirds are as thick as flies here.

Can I ask why you are shocked?

They are indeed feeder raiders.