We had another snow the other day and in the midst of it, I looked out and the ground was slowly being covered by red-wing blackbirds. As in tons of the things.
Some of those in the photo are grackles and, when I looked at some other, blurry images, there were some cowbirds in there, too. We had to put plastic up on the inside of my window which is why the images are so weird. With both plastic and glass, they are far from perfect.
By the end of the day, I was seeing more and more of them. With one group, I stopped counting at 30. When Lorna came home, the birds weren’t around and I was about to tell her about them. But she came in saying “Holy cow! What a racket outside! The pecan tree is covered in birds!” Later that afternoon, the biggest amount I had seen so far blanketed the ground from one tree to the next. I didn’t bother trying to count but if the other group was at least 30, then this had to be nearly a hundred. Lorna had scattered a whole bunch of sunflower seeds over the area so they’d not overcrowd each other.
They’ve not left yet. I see them more in the afternoons, though. Lorna thinks it is their stocking up for the night.
We are right on the cusp of their year-round area and their summer breeding area. With it being almost completely males (today I think I saw the first few females) it means they are migrating through. They travel in flocks with grackles and, it seems, cowbirds. As I type this, they’re congregating again only to all disappear in a flash of black and red. They are certainly nervous!
I use birds for weather forecasting. If the birds are feeding in the rain or snow, its going to keep raining or snowing for most of the day.
We’ve got some roufus-sided towhees. I rarely see them during the snow. I’ve been trying to track how soon I see them compared to the snow (as in before) they aren’t around that often.
When I decide to try out a webcam, I’m going to aim it at the bird feeders.
(and I didn’t delete your comments this time!)