ML197436781

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

multiple large flocks, uncertain even of the order of magnitude--easily tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands, maybe more? --3:48 pm: large discrete flock, many thousands (4k?), flying south to our east --4:05 pm: watched two large, discrete flocks north of the lake merge into a single flock (10k?) --4:05 pm: flock feeding in corn fields to our south, only one we could identify to species, see COGR entry --4:23 pm: very distant flock strung out along horizon to south, heading roughly west, smoke-like in appearance, too distant for any reliable estimate, still going when we departed around 4:42 pm --did not note start time (but have photo at 4:39 pm): perhaps the most impressive of all, a long, narrow, ribbon-like stream of birds flowing across the sky, for a time stretching from northern horizon to western horizon, appearing like a plume of smoke carried on the wind, with continuous replenishment from the “source” to the north; at one point the stream broke, with the first part continuing west and the new part changing direction to pass directly overhead in a more southerly direction, with no end in sight; when the break happened, a discrete flock/murmuration broke off temporarily (but too distant to see if a predator was involved), then the new leading edge proceeded south; still going when we departed around 4:42 p.m. [reporting as blackbird sp., as blackbirds clearly dominated and had no clear evidence of starlings] The photo is a view to the north, taken at 4:39 pm, with the "source" of the blackbird stream rising up from the horizon at the middle of the photograph, curling to the east (right of the photograph), then back to the left/west (where the birds are most discernible in this photo).

Technical information

Model

SAMSUNG-SM-J327A

ISO

40

Focal length

2.5 mm

Flash

Flash fired

f-stop

f/1.9

Shutter speed

1/995 sec

Dimensions

1932 pixels x 2576 pixels

Original file size

373.83 KB