Yesterday evening (3/14)I was strolling around
campus searching unsuccessfully for the resident
red-tailed hawk nest and watching the bluebirds
and newly-arrived pine warblers flycatching
newly-emerged midges. At around 5:45 I saw huge
flocks of grackles assembling in the oak forest
of Oak Marr park near Oakton Rd at the edge of
Flint Hill School campus(Fairfax Co). They were
all coming in from the west. Soon the grackles
started diving into two bamboo patches along
Oakton Rd. There must have been 10-11,000 of
them. It was quite a sight and quite a fun
commotion to listen to. It is amazing that so
many birds could disappear so easily into the
thick greenery. The neighbors who own one of the
bamboo patches say that the large flock of
grackles has been in there each evening for about
one to two weeks and that they return every year.
So now I am curious. How long do they stay? How
do the numbers vary from day to day? What other
roosts are in the area? How many birds are in
these roosts? Are they all in bamboo patches?
What are the addresses of the other roosts? Are
the roosts scattered all over the area? Do the
birds arrive at these roosts from just one
direction as they did in this Oakton roost?
I would love to hear back from people about their
observations on grackle roosting behavior.
All the best
Fred Atwood
=====
Frederick D. Atwood fredatwood@xxxxxxxxx
Flint Hill School, 10409 Academic Dr, Oakton, VA 22124
703-242-1675
http://www.agpix.com/fredatwood
http://www.flinthill.org
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