i guess if you just want to see something new go outside for a while. yesterday we saw a distant flock of starlings collect into a very tight ball in the sky and turn some amazing aerial manuevers. sibley says this is done for defense against raptors. these birds made a huge vertical column, which then morphed into a tornado, which then split into two parallel tornado shaped-clouds with a clear space of 50 or 100 feet between them. it was amazing and unique in my experience. i did not see any hawks nearby but i could have easily missed them. is everyone seeing as many robins as i am in hart county ? we usually get a big pulse in november, but they have hung around this year and increased steadily. this evening we walked our dog for about 25 minutes and the entire time a loose, wide string of robins was going over. i counted for a while but quit when i realized there would be many thousands of birds. they were heading south, so i suppose they might have been migrating. however, the time of day made me think they were probably heading for a roost. is anyone else seeing these large numbers ? steve k ================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBERS============== The BIRDKY Mailing List requires you to sign your messages with first & last name, city, & state abbreviation. -------------------------------------------------- To post to this mailing list, send e-mail to: birdky@xxxxxxxxxxxxx -------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, send e-mail to: birdky-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject line. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit the Kentucky Ornithological Society web site at http://www.biology.eku.edu/kos.htm * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BIRDKY List Manager: Gary Ritchison, Richmond, KY E-mail: gary.ritchison@xxxxxxx