FEMALE RUSTY BLACKBIRD, CRANBERRY MARSH,LYNDE SHORES CONSERVATION AREA,WHITBY,ONTARIO, 9/18/2021

   We can ID the bird in the first two photos as a nonbreeding female Rusty Blackbird as follows:

• Rusty crown (you can see this the best in fourth photo)
• Pale eye surrounded by and contrasting with a dark mask
• Gray and buffy (light brown) underparts
• Broad, prominant buffy eyebrow

   The Rusty Blackbird breeds in the boreal forests and muskeg (a swamp or bog consisting of a mixture of water and partly dead vegetation, frequently covered by a layer of sphagnum or other mosses) across northern Canada.  This blackbird migrates southeast to the U.S. for the winter.

   The Rusty Blackbird is a new species to our Photographic Life List, which now stands at 1,008.