Hungry birds

The other day Esther and I were walking the Wildlife Loop on Assateague Island. After the snow and cold weather, Esther was thinking to rename it as Icyteague. The waters inside and around the loop were frozen over. That led to an absence of birds except in small openings, where the herons and egrets congregated. I wondered if the water birds which usually feed there were getting hungry.

This morning we took a look outside our place on Chincoteague. The sun has melted some of the snow and left open patches in the needles under our pines. The exposed ground was just a thicket of red-wing blackbirds.

They were all over the place, pecking through needles and snow.

On the ground just one bird (lower right) showed its red, but in the air was a cheerful, colorful crowd flying back and forth to find the right spots.

This kind of thing can really make up for cabin fever during the unusual snow times here.