Blackbird Flock – Mostly Common Grackles
Submitted by Birding Notes Blog
Later in the morning a large flock of blackbirds flew in and spread over the grass and trees in several yards in the neighborhood. There were maybe 500 birds – a very rough estimate. All I saw were Common Grackles and a few Red-winged Blackbirds. I could not find any Rusty Blackbirds among them, though there were many in the trees and further away that I couldn’t see well, and they were, as usual, restless and moving from place to place. There’s something disorienting about trying to distinguish one blackbird from another in a flock on the ground. It’s like an optical illusion in motion. I know what I’m supposed to see, but just can’t quite find it. But it was a good feeling just to stand among so many and to hear them – a loud congregation of creaky blackbird voices all around. When a truck drove past they all flew up with that sudden thumping rush of wings and moved in waves, even further away, too soon. It was nice to see a fairly large flock again, and I hope maybe to run into them again.
