On Tuesday I received a phone call from Michael Elliott from the VA Office of Pesticide Services. He said he was investigating several reports from people in the Ruther Glenn/Beaverdam area (i.e., north of Ashland) that entailed large numbers of birds found dead. It was mostly grackles and starlings, plus a few Blue Jays and robins, and the groups were at least 5 miles apart from each other. Michael retrieved a few of them and cut them open, finding corn, which is he would expect this time of year since corn is being harvested now. He checked with a veterinarian at DGIF who hadn't heard of the problem, and who said that West Nile and other diseases that would cause this are not normally prevalent this time of year. He is running tests to determine whether any known chemicals are present that would cause this result. Also, Michael asked me to see if anyone else had seen this type of problem. If you have seen any kills of large numbers of birds please either post it on this listserv or send an e-mail to warfield101@xxxxxxxxxxxx Please note the date/time and specific location plus any other particulars. If you just see large flocks, you don't need to send a post unless a lot of dead birds are found (or unless you just want to report the large flock). Large flocks are migrating through the area right now, even in Richmond. Thanks, Al Warfield