In the past couple of years, I have developed a deep appreciation for Red-winged Blackbirds. They are the most common blackbird in the US (according to Sibley), and any marshy area has dozens of them. And, until last year, I had not paid any attention to them. I had never photographed one, dismissing them as just uninteresting and too common. Then in May of 2024, I visited Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana with Moose. We spent several days driving the loop watching the Red-winged Blackbirds as they vied for position among the cattails and the common tansy in a frenzied search for a mate. They put on quite a display when they are trying to attract females and their melodic warble is music to the ears. But this image, the bird perched and calmly surveying the area, not in the midst of a displaying frenzy, is one of my favorites.