[birders] Re: looking in the wrong direction

[Russell Emmons]

We've had scads of BlueJays moving through here the past few days, numbering in the hundreds. Now & then they "fall out" into our woods and yard, clean out the feeders and move on. Today a huge flock that had another 40 or so (at least) Rusty Blackbirds accompany them. The Rustys fell out into our damp mucky woods floor out back and foraged in it just as the  literature describes!----------  Now though,  how come we don't get Warblers (as we used to) anymore whilst others are seeing plenty in SE MI now?

Russ Emmons, Casco Twp. St. Clair county
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Allen T. Chartier 
  To: birders at umich.edu 
  Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 7:15 PM
  Subject: [birders] Re: looking in the wrong direction


  Su,

  Maybe a migrating flock of Blue Jays? They're at the peak of their migration now.

  Allen T. Chartier
  amazilia1 at comcast.net
  Inkster, Michigan, USA
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    ----- Original Message ----- 
    From: Su Clift 
    To: birders at umich.edu 
    Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2008 7:43 PM
    Subject: [birders] looking in the wrong direction


    About 6:20 this evening I was outside picking up a bazillion sticks out of my lawn.  I looked up in the sky to see roughly 150 birds... all flying spread out, but definitely in a group.  I don't know what they were; I've never seen anything like them before.  There were roughly grackle size, mostly very dark but had a white patch on the body near the tail.  They were straight from beak to tail tip, very flat.  Their wings flapped irregularly---like 2 eighth notes, a pause, and then 4 or 5 32nd notes (only way I can think to compare speed of relative wing flaps!).  I ran for the binoculars and only managed to see one through them, but I could tell their wing tips curved upward slightly as viewed from the rear.  They didn't make any sounds at all.

    I was so bummed that I didn't get a better look at them, but then a small bunch of swallows flew around my head for a few seconds so that made me smile... and wonder if I had bugs in my hair from all the yard work.  And a robin is building a nest in my tree... and I saw a white-throated sparrow.  So ok I'm happier now.

    Anybody got any ideas what that large flock could've been?

    Su in Adrian

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