Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!midway!ncar!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!umich!vela!egrunix!awesley
From: awesley@egrunix.UUCP (Tony Wesley)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Starlings!
Message-ID: <696@egrunix.UUCP>
Date: 2 Nov 90 13:34:38 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: National Federation of Associations
Lines: 25


Last Saturday, I went to the Oakwoods Metropark near Flat Rock,
Michigan (a tad south of Detroit).  While entering the park, I was
amazed to be engulfed in a huge swarm of Starlings!  I had to stop the
car, because I was in awe and to avoid hitting any of them.  The sky
was literally darkened by them.  They were landing and taking off,
forming a huge black cloud that seemed to have a life of its own.

The flock was hundreds of yards across.  I am certain that there were
over 1000 birds present.  I made that SWAG by looking at one patch of
ground and figuring that it contained > 100 birds.  Then, I looked at
my patch vs the ever changing cloud around me and decided that my
ground patch was considerably less than one tenth of the total ground
area.  I stopped trying to estimate and just looked.

My wife and I visit that park probably 50 times a year for the last
two years and we've never seen anything like that.  Perhaps 20 or so
starlings at a time.

It was a fairly uncommon sight by such a common bird.
-- 
And little Sir John with his nut brown bowl        Tony Wesley/RPT Software
                And his brandy in the glass        voice: (313) 274-2080
And little Sir John with his nut brown bowl      awesley@unix.secs.oakland.edu
          Proved the strongest man at last...    Compu$erve: 72770,2053