A third Grackle experience

When things happen a third time, I take notice. In December my friend John and I went on a floating trip up the Eno/Little River. About an hour into the trip we heard, what at first I thought was traffic, but as we got closer it was clear that it was birds. We floated up into the largest flock of Grackles I've ever seen. At first they were off the shore line in the woods and every once in a while they would stop their chatter and you'd hear this "whirring" sound. They were taking flight. We kept paddling up the river and before long we were right amongst them. We had to be a bit careful of a little bird shit, but we escaped unharmed. There were several hundred of these birds and they were in trees on both sides of the river. We were able to float right between them and the chatter was amazing. The sheer number of birds was more than I've ever seen. At some point, shortly thereafter, we turned to head back down the river and they escorted us down the river a good ways before they moved away into a thick part of the woods.

 

Three weeks ago, right before the holidays, it happened again. There were hundreds of them that were right outside the window at work. They were covering an oak tree that is one of the oldest oaks I've seen and carpeting the ground. Co-workers were as amazed as I.

Yesterday, it happened again. I had gone into work to do something to catch up for the week to come. As I left about 2 pm, there they all were in the trees across the street.

What is the message from the birds? They are often considered pests and their song is harsh. However, they live in these large colonies and tend to be gregarious. I keep thinking about an excercise we do in the Reclaiming Elements class called "flocking." It is largely done to demonstrate how we can support each other as we move into a given direction. It's a model for leadership based on the "V-formation" Canadian Geese use when they are travelilng. Yet this "flocking" is different. It is about living as a community. It is about migrating together and traveling together. I wonder.