So there I was in the kitchen. Being extra hands while Owen was creating Salisbury steak. I was looking out the window, which I do a lot because the birds have quite a circus in progress. And then, I saw a black bird. It might have been a starling, but it’s that time of year again. About two weeks early, Usually they sweep in around Halloween. Close enough,

Grackles. Definitely. I could see them gathering in the trees, just like Hitchcock’s “The Birds.” If you look into the woods, you can see them gathering. Branches bend under the weight.

No doubt about it. The grackles are back. For however long they stay, usually about three weeks, give or take a few days, they are THE birds. They aren’t aggressive or even pushy, but there are a lot of them. And while I write this, they are out there forming a mob.

That’s the other thing. Black birds form mobs. Not just one species of black bird. Crows, grackles, starlings, red or yellow winged blackbirds — but NOT Ravens — form groups called “mobs.” Finches sometimes mob up in the summer — House Finch and Goldfinch locally — but not to the same extent as black birds. Why do they do it? Apparently sometimes to find food, often to protect themselves or their nest, often to take down a hawk or raven (crows hate ravens — and no one knows why. It’s an ancient grudge).

Mostly they have been gathering in the woods and watching the feeders. I assume they will eventually come down and join the crowd.

Categories: #Birds, #Photography, Anecdote, Grackle