Right Place at the Right Time

For a while earlier today I felt as if I was in my own live version of Alfred Hitchcocks movie "Birds." Never have I seen so many birds in one place at the same time before. Luckly I was the passenger and had my camera at the ready. So, let me give you the play by play in photos. But, you may want to click on each photo to get the full details.

It was about five pm and we were driving down a road in a rural area on the edge of town. Our first snow fall had happened overnight and the street in this area was not completely clear. I raised my camera to take a shot of the road and the rising pink in the sky, when, the Old Salt said do you see all those birds, as he started to slow down. I did and started snapping away.

The trees on both sides of the road were full of big black birds.

After a few more feet I noticed that a large field on my side of the car was covered in black specks, hundreds of them. Perhaps, as many as a thousand. Unfortunately, I had a problem with the camera focusing on the trees and fence in the foreground so this is the only shot that may give you some idea how many. By the time I snapped this shot they had already started to take to the air.





Suddenly, the birds in the field began to fly and the sky was getting blacker and blacker with the birds. Then, the ones in the trees started to take off and I was so in awe of what I was seeing that my camera was forgotten. Luckily, there was no other traffic on the road. We stopped in the middle of the road to watch this flight of birds for about five minutes. The whole time questioning where they came from and why they picked that place to bed down.

We had two choices for our route home today and I am grateful that we chose this one. I'm sure I will never see another flock of birds as large again.