Grackles

I thought they were ugly birds. Nuisances. Not worth my time.

I tend to chase them away from our backyard bird feeder because they scare away the other birds that I felt were more worthy of my attention. I convinced myself that they didn't belong in my backyard.

And then I met one on a nature trail that made me give grackles a second look.

It was a bright morning when I drove out to the Sarsaparilla Trail, off Old Richmond Road. I was looking for my Merlin bird of the day, a yellow-bellied sapsucker, and the app told me that they had been spotted on this end of town.

The bird app picked up its song and I saw one fly across the path, but I didn't have my camera at the ready. But I could at least add the sapsucker to my Life List, which to date stands at 215 species.

The sapsucker had also been spotted along the Jack Pine Trail, also nearby, so when I was done taking pictures at the Sarsaparilla Trail, I changed locations. I knew there were some open spaces and hoped to have better luck.

I neither saw nor heard any yellow-bellied sapsuckers: only the usual suspects—cardinals, chickadees, blue jays, and red-winged blackbirds—came to my ears. There are a couple of open-air boardwalks over the marshland, but it seemed that the red-wing blackbirds dominated that space.

Except for one bird.

From a distance, I thought it was a crow, walking along the handrail of the boardwalk. It walked with purpose directly toward me, and as it got closer I realized it was too small to be a crow.

It was a grackle.

In the bright sunlight, I could see that it's head had a sheen that turned its feathers purple, the feathers on its breast blue, and the bird glistened. Its yellow eyes seemed to pierce me as it made its way closer.

I don't tend to photograph grackles. These birds didn't appeal to me. But this one seemed different. It displayed an intelligence and confidence that I hadn't noticed in the species.

When it was practically next to me, I snapped some photos. It stopped, curious by the sound of the shutter but it also seemed to take an interest in me.

I looked at the bird taking me in and actually said, "Hello, how are you now?"

The grackle said nothing in return but it turned its head at an angle, as though it couldn't figure me out. And then, it continued along the rail, walking with purpose but never looking back.

These are smart birds, I told myself. Perhaps they are deserving of my respect and not my scorn.

I no longer try to scare them from my backyard (as this week's Wordless Wednesday showed).

Happy Friday!