Red-winged blackbirds sitting in a tree

A pair of male red-winged blackbirds sat at a tree a few feet away from each other, exchanging "oak-a-lee" calls and flashing their epaulets.
Just below them, five females took in the performance.

And then the females left to pick bugs from a nearby alder.

The males started hopping up the tree, coming within a foot of each other as they climbed.

They each gave two or three trills from the trees' top branches, before one flew to a nearby cattail.

Then they both ducked into the reeds, and the drama was over.