Plus yesterday’s unexpected good Samaritan.
1/125. f/8, ISO 500, Canon 40D, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM + EF 1.4 Extender, not baited, set up or called in
We begin with another photo from one of the oldest portions of my portfolio. It’s been almost four years since I posted a Yellow-headed Blackbird so I figure it’s about time – this one is from the early summer of 2008.
During the breeding season male Yellow-headed Blackbirds are known for an amazing variety of sexual and agonistic displays, at least 15 of them. I especially like this one with his tail flared and a head turn which allowed me to get light in his eye as he performed the splits between two cattails. I got a much better exposure than I usually get on an inky black bird and I was pleasantly surprised to get him so sharp at such a slow shutter speed.
OK, now for a real change of pace.
When good things happen, especially when they’re completely unexpected, it sometimes leaves me with a warm buzz that lasts for a surprisingly long time. Yesterday afternoon while I was trying unsuccessfully to get some interesting bird photos at one of our local ponds it happened once again when a fisherman reminded me of the inadvisability of making assumptions.
This gentleman was fishing on the far side of the pond. To me at least he doesn’t necessarily look like a potential hero but he surprised me.
He caught my attention when I noticed him craning his neck in an obvious attempt to see what was happening in front of a stand of reeds growing out of the water near the shore immediately to his left. He looked for such a long time I eventually scanned the edge of the reeds to see if I could spot whatever it was that he was so interested in. It turned out to be an American Coot entangled in fishing line that was in turn entangled in the reeds.
I didn’t know it at the time but when this photo was taken he was looking to his right at his large pile of fishing gear on the ground to see if he had anything there that would help him to free the coot.
For the sake of telling the story I’m going to call this good Samaritan… Sam.
Eventually I spotted the far away coot through my lens. Here ‘he’ looks pretty relaxed but that’s deceiving. He’d already been struggling for a long time so he was resting briefly as a very curious Pied-billed Grebe looked on.
Even as far away as I was I could hear the coot splashing in the water as he struggled but that only made things worse as more of the fishing line became entangled in the reeds.
It was freezing cold, 33° F. with a frigid breeze blowing, but Sam was intent on freeing that coot. There was an expanse of water between him and the reeds and the coot was on the other side of them so he had to try to wade through the water with a very muddy bottom in an attempt to get at the bird.
When that didn’t work, probably because of the muddy bottom combined with the freezing water that Sam wasn’t dressed for, he tried another tactic.
When he began to walk around the far side of the large pond with his fishing gear left behind I had no idea what he was up to. He walked about 150 yards until he spotted this deadfall from one of the large trees near the shore. He picked it up and than dragged it all the way back to his original fishing spot.
When he finally arrived at the reeds in front of the coot he picked up the deadfall and…
gently laid it across the water between the shore and the reeds. I believe his intent was to try to walk on the deadfall to allow him to avoid the worst of the freezing water and mud as he attempted to free the coot.
But unbeknownst to Sam the coot had freed itself and swam away while he was walking around the pond to retrieve the deadfall. Eventually Sam walked the other way around the pond and close to my pickup so Mia told him the coot had freed itself and thanked him for his efforts. He seemed nonchalant about what he’d done, as if his efforts were the natural and assumed consequences of anyone seeing a bird in such a predicament.
I disagree. I don’t think most folks in Sam’s situation would have made the effort that he made to free the coot.
Kudos Sam. You made me feel just a little bit better about my own species and reminded me that potential heroes don’t always look the part.
Ron
Notes:
Sam spent almost half an hour trying to free the coot. At the beginning of his efforts there was no one else at the pond except for Sam and the two of us in my pickup. We were far away and Sam had no idea we were watching him through our lenses. Notice that in the first photo of Sam he appears to be already wet almost up to his knees.
What a wonderful heartwarming story, Ron. Thank you so much for bringing tears to my eyes and a confirmation that goodhearted people are out there who will go to great lengths to save a bird that will never be able to say thank you.
Wonderful news, and thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Ron, for being the great messenger you are. Merry Christmas to you and yours, blessings to all, and may the new year bring a good measure of kindness all around.
Just what I needed to read on a rather icky day. I’m delighted to know folks like “Sam” are out there. I know I would have done the same. It was how I was raised. And the blackbird made me grin!
just had to add : Cheers to Sam for his big heart, Cheers to Lyle for a fine
poem, and Cheers to Ron for making a warm and wonderful atmosphere
in his blog, so that we could all feel a little better for today, at least !
I wish I was as limber as the bird. Beautiful shot, and a very nice story. There are a lot of good people in this world!
I think the yellow headed black bird is showing off his athleticism and saying “I am sexy and I know it” all at once.
Kudos to the fisherman. I would probably not do it in that circumstance. I have had too many experiences trying to rescue birds in similar situations and sunk past my knee into marsh mud and lost a shoe never to be retrieved. I am just getting too old for heroics.
April, I think that’s why he retrieved the deadfall – to try to avoid a result like you described.
But I’m not sure how well you live up to your statement – if I recall you waded into the mud just a few days ago to rescue a hunter-wounded duck at Farmington Bay WMA… 🙂
Thank you to all who have commented so far.
I’m not going to reply to most of the comments individually, in part because Sam is the one who deserves the accolades.
I do wish he could somehow see this post…
I bet he fished there regularly, drop him by a lunch.
April, I looked for him this afternoon. He wasn’t there.
Thank you Ron for today’s, “don’t give up on humanity” post ! It was much needed and greatly appreciated ! Merry Christmas to you and Mia !
Quite the acrobatic feat for that Yellow-headed Blackbird! And so happy to read your account of the unexpected Good Sam — it’s often hard not to judge a book by its cover but then we can miss the real story. This guy looks like he might be in a tough situation himself, perhaps that’s why he had such empathy for that coot’s dilemma. Glad it all turned out—and I hope he caught some fish, too.
Merry Christmas to you, Ron, and to Feathered Photography‘s readers. Not sure 2020 would have been survivable without all of you in my mailbox every day!🎄
Yellow-headed Blackbird: “OK Ron, I’m doin’ what you asked, now take the photo before anyone else sees me in this ridiculous pose.”
Ron: “Nailed it!”
‘Twas two days before Christmas
Ron was out and about.
Not a bird was seen stirring
Seemed a complete rout.
But wait, there’s a sight,
A chap with a pole
curiously looking,
despite freezing cold.
A Coot in distress,
What would he do?
He did what was right,
Wouldn’t you, too?
A witness did thank him,
He just shrugged and walked on,
But his kind act will be shared,
Thanks to Mia and Ron.
at
👏👏👏👏👏❤️
Bravo!
Here’s hoping that Sam’s kind of compassion spreads in the new year. Thank you to all the Sams out there and thank you, Ron, for sharing an “upper” of a post today! 😍
Very pertinent modern-day parable. Too often we judge by appearances or stereotypes. I will not forget the tree full of Yellow-headed Blackbirds I once saw at Bosque del Apache in New Mexico. They decorated it like ornaments and it was the same time of year. They did make a racket, though!
There are more Sams in the world than we realize, I think! Praises to you Sam and a Merry Christmas to everybody!
I have many captions for your picture of this guy❗️ “Hang in there 2020 is almost over” comes to mind first 😁
Thank you to all of the “ Sam’s” out there. We had a rescue of a juvenile herring gull last week. Through her lens she could see something was wrong. It makes me sad and mad on how much wildlife wasn’t saved by a “Sam”.
Thank you for sharing your gift of photography 😍 My bright spot during this crazy year❗️
Merry Christmas Ron❗️
This is truly lovely.
The acrobatic beauty awed me, and then Sam warmed my heart.
Thank you, and him.
Christmas has reached us on this side of the pond (though not yet dawned). A very Merry Christmas and bird and kindness filled year to you and all of the people here. And to all the Sams of the world too.
Spectacular YHBB photo, and a very nice story. Thanks!
A lovely Christmas message, Ron. Thank you.
Great photo and a wonderful story. Cheers, to Sam and his kindness and to you for telling him.
Kaye
Park City, UT
Thanks so much for recording “Sam” and giving all of us fans a reminder
about “appearances” ! Without a warm coat in such bitter weather–just maybe
he wasn’t fishing for recreation, but actually to feed his family or himself. In
any case, his compassion-in-action was impressive. And I’d title your
wonderful photo “Splits on Stilts.” For the New Year, I wish us all many more
sightings of human kindness toward the wild things of our world.
Thankyou to Sam. Nice Christmas Story !! And Merry Christmas to you and Mia !!!and hopefully a much better New Year ..
First of all, the photograph of the blackbird is just gorgeous and perfect. I love to see this bird which is unfortunaley absent of the Quebec bird list. It’s true that the behavior shown by Sam is not the usual way the humans act. And this is truly sad. Also, when we have the chance to record a benevolent behavior towards nature, it is a great advantage to be able to share this adventure with others. And that’s what you did and that’s what you do tirelessly through your blog. Heroes are not always in front of the camera. Have a great christmas eve.
Good morning!
I don’t comment much but I look forward to your posts, one of the few emails I like opening!! Thank you for sharing your work! I wish you and your family a great Christmas and 2021!!
Love the first photo, beautiful bird!
I agree with *Sam*, maybe I am fortunate in New Mexico and have a lot of such people in my area!! Regardless, glad the bird was free!!
Have a blessed day!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you and yours, Ron. Your photos (and commentary) have been a wonderful addition to 2020, and today’s are no exception. Cheers!
What a wonderful way to start the day. Such a wonderful story Ron. I also really enjoyed the excellent pic of the blackbird…wonderful capture!!!
An excellent post for the day, season, and type of year we have been having! Kindness and good deeds shown when no one ‘is looking’ or done without expecting accolades…Priceless! Thanks for sharing an everyday hero. Merry Christmas to you, Mia, and all your readers! 🙂
Kathy, you did a good job of describing how I feel. Merry Christmas.
YAY “SAM”! Know there ARE caring people out there and is wonderful to encounter them. Appearances can be deceiving…..😉 Yellow headed blackbird is cool also – those splits COULD be a problem…..😀
Judy, I’ve seen some pretty low brow behavior from fisherpersons at that pond so I probably made some initial presumptions about Sam that I shouldn’t have.
Always interesting how watching bad behavior can taint how we look at others, isn’t it? 😉
Christmas time is the time when we often see Good Samaratans show up unexpectedly and Sam is definitely a good one. Sam is also a pretty rugged guy to be out fishing at 33 degrees dressed as he is. Thanks for the interesting account of Sam’s rescue attempt, and for the excellent photo of the Yellow-headed Blackbird.
Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays wishes to you and Mia and to all your FP followers.
Rugged indeed, Everett. Hell, I was cold inside my pickup!
Great to see an outdoorsman that cares about all the wildlife. This is how both sides of my family raised me.
Pam, I wish more folks were raised that way.