Boat-Tailed Grackle
Getting caught up, here and back into the swing of my normal weekly events. Sunday is a good day for inspiration on The Write Stuff, often about things I have pinned to the Inspiration Boards that surround my work area. And nothing inspires me more than nature.
This week, I discovered the grackles are back! Fall migration has officially begun, and they are busily congregating everywhere they can, including local parking lots where they might find a few dropped bits of food items. There are several kinds of grackles, but the ones who make the biggest impression on me are the boat-tailed variety, and I recognize them as a harbinger of autumn, the same way folks up north recognize the robin as the first sign of spring.
Hey! It’s Fall, Y’all!!
Grackles are among my favorite of birds. I even mentioned them in a somewhat poignant scene in Finding Hunter. (See? Inspiration.) They are handsome birds, with a lovely iridescent sheen to their glossy black feathers, except for the female. She’s a plainer, mostly brown bird, but the males seem quite intent in impressing her, anyway.
You’ll Always Be Beautiful, To Me!
They are bold. Even fierce, if need be.
See? Bold! As this snail kite is learning.
And did I say fierce? Possibly foolishly so.
And best of all, they are full of attitude, strutting around convinced of their own importance, and announcing it to the world with every step they take.
Life is good, when you’re a grackle!
REALLY good!
My favorite autumn poem is one by Amy Lowell, called Purple Grackles. I hope some of you will take the time to read it HERE. It’s truly lovely, as all her poetry is.
Let me sing you the songs of autumn!
In the meantime, enjoy the pics! FALL has arrived in Florida, at last. Temps dropped twenty degrees last night, and the grackles are here! Hope you’ve been inspired by them! I have. But then, grackles always inspire me.
The Write Stuff 
You just taught me something. I thought all grackles were that blue-black colour. Had no idea the females were that light brown.
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Thanks, Cynthia. Locked out of my PC! Trying to get help. Eeek! Be back when I can.
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What gorgeous birds – so full of character. Lovely post, Marcia.
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Love your nature posts, so different to the UK.
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Glad you enjoyed them, Deb. On a garden blog where I used to be active, my username was Ma Nature. I do love our wildlife and our wild places! Would still love to come see yours, though!
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And I’d like to come see yours!
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Hi Deb. I left you a message on FB. Marcia needs a favour. Her computer died and needs you to put up a post on her blog here letting readers know. You know Marsh, worried readers will think she’s not responding. 🙂
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Oh, that was just such poor timing for all of us – Marcia found a way in the end.
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Yay Marcia! 🙂
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Many consider grackles nuisance birds, but I’ve always loved them. That iridescent color makes them hard to resist. I had no idea the females were brown. When it comes to the Avian kingdom, males are always so flashy 🙂
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Ever notice that what most people consider to be a nuisance, is anything that messes with them or their things. For me, the biggest nuisances in the world are gray squirrels. They eat all the birdseed in about an hour, dig up my plants, strip my loquat trees of all their fruit before I even get a taste, and dig holes in places they really shouldn’t be. I’ll take grackles any day. They don’t cause me half as many problems. And besides, they are fun to watch. ( So glad I am at least able to comment on the blog. Hope it won’t be too long before I can post again. )
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