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I missed it this year. At least a few times in the fall I see a huge flock of birds, usually starlings, weaving and diving their way through the air and landing on a telephone wire or treetop. These bird flocks are a signature part of the fall season along with cold, crisp air and falling leaves. Last year a huge flock landed in my backyard and the simultaneous chitter chatter of hundreds of birds was unforgettable. That's when I decided to do an experiment.
Several years ago I watched in awe as a friend of mine quieted down an entire brood of chicks by imitating a hawk screech. Instinctively, each chick stopped peeping and froze. They were only a few days old and never knew the danger of a hawk but this protective behavior was built into their DNA.
So last year when I found myself under a couple of hundred chattering starlings I instructed my youngest daughter to imitate the hawk's screech noise. Upon imitating the hawk, almost all birds quieted down to see where the noise had come from. It was amazing to see how their vigilance and communication spread quickly throughout the flock and quieted them down. My daughter thought that was cool too and proceeded to do another hawk screech, this time very human like. The birds seemed to realize that it was an annoying small human and decided to take their chit chat to another set of treetops farther away.
Flocking is a pretty cool behavior and even though I did not catch a few hundred starlings with my camera, I did catch a couple of other flocks. Every morning on Frenchtown Road I see a flock of pigeons huddled together on a telephone wire. They always look so cold there but maybe they are there to take in the energy from each sunrise. (see pics)
In addition, I was fortunate to take a couple of pictures of a flock of 25 wild turkeys. (see pics). I was trying to figure out where the Tom or male turkey was, but like white tail deer, maybe the males are a bit more secretive.
