Rusty Blackbird: Kennebunk, Maine, USA, March 2026 — This is not a great photo. Too far. Too many branches. But it is, I am pretty sure, the very first Rusty Blackbird I have seen in Maine. You have to be looking at the right time, just about now, as they move from their winter grounds to the south of us, to their breeding grounds to the north of us. They don’t actually live here. They just pass through. However the species is in deep decline. There are not a lot of them left. There are a lot of reasons. Primarily the draining and cutting of the wetland forests in the southeast where they winter and the climate change induced drying of the wetland forest where they breed. Also mercury poisoning and increasing acid in rain. And the change in the seasonal cycle has an impact on their food sources. All those factors added together paint a bleak picture for the Rusty Blackbird (and, of course, for us!). As it happens the Universe is a self healing system, and despite recent setbacks, I have confidence that we will come to our senses in time. Or at least I still have hope. Sony a6700. Sigma 16-300 cropped to about 2000mm equivalent field of view. Program with bird and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.