Four and twenty blackbirds---baked in a----

[Al Hansen]

As a duck hunter, I have witnessed those undulating flocks of blackbirds flying through the sky. I have seen a marsh hawk dive into such a flock and when he emerged, came out with empty talons. I was sitting by the edge of a low flow ditch when this gigantic flock of redwings came by to feed. How they keep from flying into one another is just a plain miracle. It was amazing how quickly after landing in the tall grasses, that a thousand birds could totally disappear. Then without provocation they exploded out of the grass to continue their flight. These little guys made my day! I had the wrong lens on but these will have to do.
Al

When you are having fun time flies and with a digital camera it is easy to take "lots" of shots. When they finally drifted out of sight I had taken 205 shots of them. Just a little computer time, that is all.

 

[Bob B]

So Al,
if you buy your wife a really nice camera for christmas does she let you take it hunting? Esp. if the first digital camera you owned together got thrown in the lake when the bucket carrying it needed to be pressed into service as a bilge pump in a big old hurry?

Those shots are amazing. I was deer hunting in a big old beach stand and a migratory flock of blackbirds came thru the trees and set in. When they left half the flock flew right by me around the tree... what a sight. Looked like a movie effect as they blasted by.

 

[Hitch]

Cool photos Al. I can just imagine the "music" that goes along with these photos. Hitch

 

[Robert Schaffer]

Cool pics Al ive never looked at those black birds like that before just always thought of them as annoying little birds that fly over by the thousands.. Its amazing how a camera can show you how beautiful all of Gods creation really are..

 

[Pat M]

I had a group like that come in last year while I was sitting in a pot hole in a cattail marsh. They just kept picking up and flying around the marsh all afternoon. It made it just a little difficult to see the teal and woodducks that were buzzing around with them! Great shots like ususal.

 

[Eric Dellamater]

What is always amazing to me Al is the noise they make. It is a quieter racket that say a flock of snow geese but it is equally continuous. Always amazes me when you go out in the am, never see a one in the marsh, then suddenly out of no where they all creap up out of the cattails and launch into 10000 birds flying in a huge undulating blob like amoebas.

thanks for the pics.

 

[Dave Sikorski]

No bands???!!!

Great pics Al. I never noticed that blackbirds are so damn pretty.

Thanks for sharing.

-D

 

[george w]

Ski, certain times of the year, they are at our bird feeder!
I really do miss getting out on the digs to frequently observe huge, undulating groups of redwings migrating---At times, they looked like smoke!

 

[Geoff Schroeder]

As usual, wonderful pictures.

A couple seasons back, I watched a pair of falcons work a blob of blackbirds. One of them kept the group tight, the other stayed high and make repeated dives through the mass. What was most visually striking was the group's ability to go from a single mass to a nearly invisible, scattered gathering of individuals the moment before that high flier passed through the flock.

 

[Tony F]

Al,
Beautiful work again! Down here in Louisiana that is the beginning of a black iron pot full of jambalaya!