Common blackbird. Melnais meža strazds. Turdus merula. Amsel. Koltrast. Musträstas. Черный дрозд.

• This bird is a trickster, he is smarter, than I expected. This summer I saw some specimen near my orchard at my summer cottage, always there, nowhere else. I got confident, that they will be around, when I will be going to “shoot” them, so I wasn’t worried about them not being there. So I wasted some weeks and didn’t even try to “shoot” them, instead tried to focus on some “easier to get birds”, like the large tit (again got a smile, while writing this word). Finally the time came to get this little rascal in a digital way, I prepared – got my masking set, charged batteries (for my D7000 and for a voice player. It was also the time when I decided to harvest sweet cherries, it should have been the first good harvest (the trees are quite young, so not the highest productivity). When I arrived there, it seemed like everything was as it should be – lots of birds singing around. Started to search for the common blackbird, played its voice, but, you know… Nothing! No response, no visible proof that they were there. A little bit disappointed I decided to get my cherries. And you know, it felt like a dejavu - the cherries were also gone. At that point it hit me! Those little rascals were just sticking around my orchard, just to wait till my cherries get ready, then eat them and never come back, leaving me double disappointed.
• Starting tip: they are fast, they usually hide so well, that they do see you, but you even don’t know if they are there. So, masking and voice is a must. And don’t count on that they will be there when you plan that.