ML610762562

Dettagli dell'osservazione

Enormous flocks of mixed blackbird species flew to the west all around us. Some were lower to the ground when the winds came up. Others were high and distant in the sky to the south and east, primarily. Some flocks from the north as well. The flocks came continuously for about 45 minutes. They may have started streaming to the west before we arrived, but they would have been higher than we could have seen from our car. In the distance the flocks looked like smoke but when we got our binoculars on them, we could see that they were birds. Last January a group of 5 of us came to look for the blackbird movement to their supposed roosting site at Lower Sherman Island to the west. We estimated about 43000 that evening. This was easily 5 or more times that number, but we only had two observers. I estimated tonight's movement conservatively at 5 times the numbers of last January. I will try to get here a little earlier the next time in case the movement starts earlier. Photo note: I should have brought a wider focal length lens to capture the sky-filling quantity of birds. These photos were taken with a 500mm prime lens.