The Birds...

[squirl033]

don't know what these little fellas are, but there were hundreds of them down along the river in Everett yesterday... they'd all rise up out of the grass like a swarm of locusts, fly a little ways, and then settle back down, only to repeat the process a few minutes later...

 

[Bill Anderson]

European Starlings. Their swarming behavior is called murmuration. Query You Tube for some fantastic videos of clouds of thousands of swarming starlings.

Starlings are considered to be the #1 agriculture pest bird in Washington. All starlings in North America are descendents of sixty birds which were released in NYC's Central Park in the early 1900's by a group which wanted to introduce into the US every bird mentioned in a Shakespeare play.

http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/starlings.html

 

[squirl033]

thanks for the info, Bill... i'd thought those might be starlings, but the starlings i've seen have all been much darker colored, so i wasn't sure...

 

[photographmemories]

Nice shot Rocky! Were they all flying one direction or would they fly one way and fly back to their starting point to repeat the process?



Chad

 

[squirl033]

thanks, Chad... they seemed to fly one direction a few yard, then settle, then jump up and fly a little farther, lather, rinse, repeat...i shot this through the open window of my jeep,,, they were probably no more than 30 feet away.