January 2010 - Artistic Blackbirds in the rain.

Friday 15th: This morning it rained constantly for 3 hours, gradually washing away the remaining snow. As usual the Blackbirds were about in the garden. During this cold-snap, our garden has played host to as many as 7 Blackbirds - 4 males and 3 females - on a fairly regular basis. The photos here taken by Melanie show a pair at the backdoor where they tend to eat mealworms which we give them to supplement their diet. Due to the low light levels this morning Mel used the flash to take photos, resulting in some remarkably artistic images. We believe that the white speckles on the male could be a mixture of rain drops and dandruff...yes dandruff! The images of the male Blackbird in particular seem to portray him as though carved from black marble or some such solid substance!