We call them Murmurations, but the Danish term, sort sol, is better: black sun. – Helen Macdonald, English writer, naturalist (1970-)
But the earth and its beings are extravagantly wild, full of unexpected wonders. It is about time to turn from our textbooks and listen to the birds themselves. – Lyanda Lynn Haupt, American author, naturalist, based in Seattle
If you believe the March equinox always happens on March 19 at 11:06 P.M. EDT the article said “You may be dating yourself.” As it turns out the date of the equinox changes every year in small increments. I suppose it could be a bit of good luck as spring will come two days sooner than I thought. A nice thing about living where we do is there can be many changes of season within one week’s time. One day may be chilly with a touch of ice or snow flurries in the air, another day of winds and rain, while the following day will heat up into a nice 70’s by noon.
As I sit here writing in the sunroom, Wilhelmina is sleeping lazily at my back while out the window I see a beautiful male bluebird standing in the water tray. The bluebirds have been with us all winter as have the cardinals. When a male cardinal visits the birdfeeder tiny birds like wrens, chickadees, sparrows, or tufted titmice will align their small selves directly opposite the larger birds so the smaller ones will have a good chance to feed and the cardinal will not know who is around there nipping at the seed.
The next morning, I awakened to what seemed like a thousand birds swarming the trees and the whole yard. Some birds covered the ground foraging about the leaves while other birds flitted from tree to tree. The event was similar to the murmuration of the Starlings but this group was more chaotic with an assortment of birds. I could identify Robins, Red-winged Blackbirds, common Blackbirds, and Starlings but the bird in the center of the other Blackbirds covering the ground near the birdfeeders I did not know. He was black and built much like a blackbird but with a stunning, somewhat iridescent blue head. The closest identification I could make of him was a Common Grackle. Some of the birds dove to my water trays while others swooped down to the pond’s edges and through the irises.
I came upon an article by the Columbia Audubon Society reporting the sighting of an “estimated flock of five million birds, with 75% Common Grackles, 20% Red-winged Blackbirds, and 5% European Starlings.” Hardly did we host five million birds here but there was certainly more than one person could identify or count. We did have Robins in great numbers as well. I didn’t notice how long they stayed as I was trying to identify the species. Each time I moved toward a window the birds would move away. They must have awfully good vision and awareness. Not one single bird hit a window for which I was grateful. Then I suppose as quickly as they arrived, they suddenly departed to places unknown.
Within minutes the bluebirds, sparrows, and wrens returned from wherever they were in hiding to resume a normal day visiting bird feeders and water trays, just as if none of it had ever happened.
Shannon Bardwell is a writer living quietly in the Prairie. Email reaches her at [email protected].
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