Garry says that everyone has a good (for photography) side and a not-so-good side. I think I got the good side of these insane grackles. These birds really are cuckoo wackadoodle. And, with those malevolent yellow eyes which, in some lights, look more metallic than “real” — well, these birds are nuts to photograph. Despite warnings, they haven’t destroyed anything. They really don’t eat much — not considering how many of them there are and oh boy, there are a lot grackles in this plague!
SYNCHRONICITIY
This turned out to be a great day of shooting — only about 3 minutes of shooting — and the rest of the day other than cooking, were photos being cropped etc. I could even see that some of these would be pretty good. The birds helped.
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Categories: #Birds, #Birds, #gallery, #Photography, Blackstone Valley, Grackle, Wildlife
THE HUNGRY CREATURES 
SERENDIPITY - SEEKING INTELLIGENT LIFE ON EARTH 
The guy in the bottom left corner of photo #5 is a winner! I don’t think any animal looks more naturally angry than a grackle…
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They look both malevolent and sinister AND ferocious. But actually, they are none of those, just complete insane. They really act like a bunch of kids in the back seat on a long trip.
It’s those yellow eyes. When you get close enough, they don’t look like eyes. They look like yellow metal. Aluminum maybe.
The guy in number 5 photo looks like a killer. I suspect all he is planning is how to push all the OTHER grackles out of the way so HE can get to mealworm suet cake. All the birds (except finches who don’t eat anything but seeds) adore dead bugs wrapped in suet. Yum. Mmm mmm good! And the squirrels will actually try to take the whole cake and run off with it. The raccoons actually have managed to do it. The raccoons also took our biggest feeder, seeds and all, and carried it away. We never found it. Raccoons are smart!
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Before seeing your photographs I’d not thought of Grackles as anything but pests. At first glance, I thought they might be some kind of bluebird. OMG. Thanks for the reminder not to judge before you have a good look, eh?
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They are a rainbow of colors. I think they are beautiful. Oddly, though there are hundred — maybe more — of them hanging around in the trees and yelling at each other, they actually don’t eat much. They fight –l- like siblings — for the best position on the feeder, but then they leave without eating. The purple ones are just gorgeous. In the right light, there isn’t any color they don’t display except white (which isn’t a color since it is “all colors”) or true black, even though they are considered blackbirds.
They are hilarious to watch. Truly, like a bunch of frat boys fighting over a keg of beer! Amazing!
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I”m so please you have the gifts of these birds, squirrels, and camera, Marilyn! Wish I could drop by to watch the show. And bring some groceries. 😜😜
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Oh, Marilyn–the photo with the three of them lined up on the wire…! I figure you said, “I give the orders, now line up!” They said, “Yes, ma’am,” right? Such great photos.
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These came out way better than I had any right to expect. And you can really see how beautiful they are, too,.
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They really are very pretty birds.
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And rather elegant too. Slender and stretched out, they look very different than any other black birds I’ve seen.
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Wow, I hadn’t realised from your earlier more distant photos how handsome these grackles are! We don’t get them here at all.
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They really are amazing looking. The purple ones are a dark rainbow with every color except white and true black, neither of which are actually colors black being the absence of color and white being all-colors. And the weird thing is that they don’t actually eat much. They fight with each other for best position in the feeder, but they don’t actually EAT anything. They are like siblings tussling or drunken frat boys trying to get to the beer keg.
They are really hilarious, like rambunctious kids. And when the sun is right? Never seen prettier birds.
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They really are mean looking birds, angry birds in fact but rather handsome just the same.
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Yes, but they don’t really ACT mean. They look sinister, for sure, but they are more hilariously playful than vicious. They haven’t attacked any other birds and there is a nice fusion of the grackles with the little birds who don’t leave unless the whole plague tries to land at the same time. Then everything takes to the trees until the crazy grackles leave again. They do this sometimes a dozen times in a few hours. They may do it more, but sometimes, I’m not looking out the window. They really ARE amazing birds.
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