Brewer's Blackbird, collecting food for his babies

I'm not sure what this Brewer's Blackbird male has in his beak - I can't tell if it is a mouthful of individual insects or maybe just one or two. It was busy collecting food to feed its babies that were perched on low branches in one tree. Mixed in with these babies was one that was different - a young Brown-headed Cowbird. Cowbirds lay their eggs in other birds' nests, so maybe this Cowbird was being raised by a pair of Brewer's Blackbirds.

These birds were seen on 17 June 2017, when five of us went east of the city for the day, to visit our friend, Shirley, at her seasonal trailer. Most of our birding was done at and near Shirley's trailer site, including seeing a wonderful owl family, two Killdeer and their nests, a Baltimore Oriole, and (finally!) a pair of Brown Thrashers. I had hoped for several years to see one of these birds, so it was a real treat to see a 'lifer'. It was far away and so high up, but I managed to get a couple of shots just for the record.

As we were walking around the grounds, two ladies stopped us and showed us some baby birds that they had had to remove from the engine of their vehicle. They wondered if we knew what kind of birds they were, but we were unable to help. I posted a photo of them a couple of days ago, just in case someone can ID them. The ladies had a bird house that they were going to put the babies into, hoping that the parents would hear them calling and be able to continue feeding them.

Thank you so much, Shirley, for inviting us all out to visit you while you were there for the weekend! It was such a pleasure to see some of "your" birds that you enjoy so much. Such a great variety of species! Wow, what a lunch we had, sitting at a table under the Tree Swallow tree, with a very vocal American Robin just a few feet away. How DO birds manage to sing non-stop?! Hot chili made by Shirley, and a whole array of delicious salads and desserts left me feeling full till the early evening.

Many thanks, Anne B, for picking up three of us and for driving us east across the prairies. Hugely appreciated!