Will Write For Chocolate, Red-winged blackbirds?

My Will Write For Chocolate comic and column has been updated. This week's column topic: "Interviewing Tips For Freelance Writers."

And speaking of interviewing, I've posted an an interview with Buffalo poet Celia White on Poetry FAQ (a young poet's guide to poetry and poetry writing).

A short while back, I mentioned that I had hired a gardener to help me with spring clean-up this year, to make sure I don't kill our new garden. Sadly, she had to opt out at the last minute and there's no time to look for someone else. So...I'm going to be relying on advice from my friends on Livejournal and doing it myself (and with Jeff's help). Though I will be talking about gardeningstuff a bit in my Blatherings, I strongly suspect many of you won't be interested in my questions about how far to cut back our clematis vines, etc.



SO...I've decided to make a custom Livejournal list for those postings instead. If you're on LJ and don't mind seeing my garden posts, please do add yourself to the list. Thanks!

But meanwhile, here's a question for you birdwatching types. Recently there's been a medium-sized black bird that has been frequenting our birdfeeder. I haven't been able to get a photo because the bird has been too skittish. I would have assumed it was a common grackle except it has whitish border along its wing edge. It looks exactly like the picture of male at the top of this page. I thought I glimpsed a bit of red when it flew away once, but haven't yet been able to confirm this. I'm also a tad confused, since I thought red-winged blackbirds were mainly found in marshlands and other wet areas.

On the other hand, its distinctive cry is not the one on this page. Instead, it's a sort of piercing "EEEEEAR" that drops slightly in pitch near the end.

Any suggestions appreciated. :-)

And finally, Phil P.'s comment my Blathering yesterday made me laugh:

"With regard to your Italian language experience, it disturbs me that you have just enough words to say "How are you? Please to buy beautiful baby!" which ought to be good for a sequel to the part of your "Wo ist der Bahnhof?" song where you get arrested..."

:-)

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