Friday, October 10, 2008

They Will Flock

It is pretty amazing as the birds gather into flocks for their protection as they move South.
Here is a group of over 150 Blackbirds that were feeding together. I never noticed the Killdeer in the front until I saw it on the computer. Click and you will find him. They move in unison as one takes off the others follow. I have seen this behavior quite often in the past few weeks. The Killdeer is still there. Here is another flock of Blackbirds feeding on the corm stalks.
Here is the best close-up I could get.
They also took wing together as in unison.
I got these ones just above the corn. There are a couple hidden in the trees.
This is my long drive day, 13 hours in traveling and working, and I do feel worn out today. I will come up with something more exciting for Camera Critters tomorrow.

14 comments:

Twisted Fencepost said...

As soon as I read kildeer, I spotted it.
I love the picture of the bird on the cornstalk!

Lapa37 said...

You always get the good shots.I tried to capture a flock of geese flying up off my lawn yesterday but my camera wouldn't capture it.I need to get a better one.

The Birdlady said...

I hope those guys aren't headed here! My birds are so enjoying their good seed mix - if the balckbirds show up, back comes the safflower!

Unknown said...

That's pretty exciting! A lot of birds, great pics.

Ken Conger Photography said...

Nice series of images. Funny finding the killdeer after reviewing your shots.

Shelley said...

Good bird action!!

Mary said...

Good shots! It really is amazing when they travel in such large flocks. Photographing them is tough when they get in the corn and tall grasses! I hate it in the winter when a flock of 100+ try to come to my feeder!

Willard said...

Tom,
A good post. I always like the change that fall brings, with the migrations and the elk and whitetail ruts.

In reference to your comment on "The Final Pinch", I don't know if I'll go further or not. This was brought on by attending a meeting this week which is held once a year and the retirees are invited. They told us how they appreciated the deputies and how important they were, yet the retirees far outnumbered the active men, and I couldn't help but think that many of us would still be active if it weren't for some of the issues I touched on in the story, which occurred in the fall of 2006. Salty posted something on another incident which sealed our decisions. If I can find it, I may link to it, but maybe its best to not go there and perhaps I should have let sleeping dogs lie and not posted this one, but after the meeting, I felt compelled to write it.

I shipped your dvd on the 8th so you should have it shortly.

Keep up the good work!

Liquid said...

How amazing is that!?

Lilli & Nevada said...

Wow that is a lot of black birds, sort of reminds one of the show the birds.

Anonymous said...

I love love to see flocks of black birds-so pretty when they take to the sky.

Cath said...

13 hours??!! Oh my!

They are wonderful shots. It is fascinating that they all fly together and follow one another - but only the same species. The killdeer stayed where it was. Really interesting work and great shots.

A Colorful World said...

I love seeing the blackbirds flying in unison, and particularly enjoy redwings on the tops of cattails and grasses. Keep wanting to get a good photograph of one, but haven't yet. Nice post.

Louise said...

Fun pictures, even if they ARE blackbirds. And do you drive 13 hours in a day often? That's about the length, one-way, of my semi-annual Missouri trip. I've done longer trips, but that's about the limit of what is tolerable in a day, and definitely not often. I start dreading the next one as soon as I finish the last one. It's a long, boring day!