Lily pads aren’t just for frogs!

The place I’ve been watching Red-wing Blackbirds nest is turning into a lily pond.  A few lily pads turned into lily pads covering a good portion of the entire little pond/inlet.  Yellow and white flowers have been budding on the water’s surface and soon will be brightening up the area with more colour.

While watching the swallows do their aerodynamics over the water one day, I noticed some birds hopping from lily pad to lily pad.  They were female Red-winged Blackbirds. I understood what they were doing when, after dancing around for a while, one flew towards me and perched on a nearby cattail, beak full of insects, ready to feed a nest full of hungry mouths.

Another strategy that I’ve seen them as well as the swallows employ is taking advantage of rainfalls. Rain bring puddles and brings worms to the surface of pavement. Apparently this is an easy way to get a huge amount of protein with very minimal effort.

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