On the afternoon of March 28, 2004, while birding the Cochran Shoals Unit of the Chattahoochee River Recreation Area, I found a flock of nine Rusty Blackbirds in the flooded area adjacent to the bathrooms along the main trail. Water had flooded part of the open field and the woods edge creating perfect habitat for the species. They were picking through the wet leaves, turning them over with their bills and feeding on whatever creatures were under them. The male that I photographed from some distance is molting into breeding plumage. Some of the males in the flock were in full breeding plumage, but all of the females were in partial breeding plumage.

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