Black and White Friday

Almost all of the color has been drained away.  The color plug was pulled and only charcoal bits and pieces remain for the camera's eye.  But this charcoal is busy and flighty and feisty.  It has a hidden fire that warms the heart looking for any energy these days.  While the nasty fight for survival puts off the small colored friends, I feel that these also have their place in this gray, brown and black world that surrounds me.  At morning time there were over a hundred that filled the trees above.

They are red-winged black birds and common grackles, of course.  The grackles are the top dog in this match.  Their yellow-eyed demonic glare, fuzzy through my window, puts off all but the most predatory.

 

Both species have trouble with the traditional bird feeder designed for smaller birds.  Eating is a balancing awkward ballet above the ground al la Cirque de Soleil, but all that they spill is welcomed by those on the wet snowy ground below.

And a close up reveals that the new black is really made up of many colors!