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| I am afraid my average photo skills simply can’t capture the number of birds in the air. Zoom on these, and you will have some idea. |
Glory be. When I stepped out of the cabin this morning, I heard a sound like a mighty wind, and looked up to see millions of black birds swirling through the clear blue sky sky. The cabin is just a field away from the Wabash river, and 15 miles from the confluence of the Wabash and the Ohio, so it is on a flightpath which frequently provides waves of birds on their seasonal migrations. The sight was thrilling and the sound was everywhere. Each branch of every tree was articulated with a line of perching birds, then they would whoosh up again and off they would go to the next treeline. I love to see flocks of birds head in waves in one direction, settle into the trees, then swirl up and off in an arc in the opposite direction. It was a gift, I felt, of joy and fullness to savor throughout the rest of this cold December day.
Truly magnificent sight, and pure magic to be in the middle of. Lucky you! 🙂
Love watching them far off above a field, when the flock of many many thousands tightens and loosens and shifts its shape like a smudge of smoke on teh horizon.
Oh– and may be any or all of these: red-winged blackbirds, Brewer’s bbirds, rusty bbirds, grackles, starlings.
I didn’t glimpse any red wings but Nature Lover, you are the best when it comes to knowing your birds! thanks!
Grackles seem most likely from the shapes I can make out (note the long tails). This was taken up on WhatBird:
http://www.whatbird.com/forums/forums/thread/197120.aspx
Thanks for sending out the request! They were noisy so grackles make sense.
Actually it was forum member who goes by the handle ILWIorAZ who posted the link to your blog. Several participants concur with the grackle i.d. Very cool experience to have; if you take up birding you’ll have many more!