A male red-winged blackbird displaying his full shoulder regalia after the solar eclipse today (99.8% here in Toronto, but it was cloudy most of the time)
He looks to be very vocal with beak wide open ! Such a super shot Heather ! Fav. So you did experience the solar eclipse did you - quite exciting I should think !
You got good patches on this one! I just stood outside and looked around during the eclipse. I have to say I didn't see many animals but the squirrels I did see didn't seem to be acting much different than usual, during the dark period...they were still look hopefully for peanuts.
@beryl@gardencat Hi Beryl and Joanne. I've been trying to capture these red patches for a while. It's amazing to see- when the bird lets out its call, it puffs up and spreads its wings wide (just like a set of bellows) to expose the red. As for the eclipse, we were close to the path of totality (but not quite). (Joanne, I believe parts of Oakville were in the path of totality. Did you manage to see much?- it was probably too cloudy.) Unfortunately, it was pretty cloudy, but it certainly got dark all the same. And near the end, I did manage to see the crescent of the sun for two seconds (with my eclipse glasses). People were outside in great numbers- there was a great spirit on the streets and in the parks :-)
An amazing capture of this red-winged blackbird. You did well to get his red patches. Fav.
Re the eclipse, it must have been an amazing experience even if it was cloudy (see my comment on Joanne's post). I remember a few years ago there was a partial eclipse when I was living in Wales. I went up into the hills to see
it, along with a few other people and although it was only partial it suddenly got quite dark, cold and very quiet. It was quite eerie as it was the middle of the day.
Re the eclipse, it must have been an amazing experience even if it was cloudy (see my comment on Joanne's post). I remember a few years ago there was a partial eclipse when I was living in Wales. I went up into the hills to see
it, along with a few other people and although it was only partial it suddenly got quite dark, cold and very quiet. It was quite eerie as it was the middle of the day.