Greetings, Ohio birders! This weekend has been a bit of a Grackle-fest for me here in Athens County! It started when I was leaving work on Friday, when a flock of approximately 50 birds landed in a couple of trees in a residential neighborhood in Athens. I heard at least one Red-winged Blackbird singing among the group, so I assume it was a mixed flock. That was the first large gathering of Grackles that I had seen so far this year. Turns out that was nothing compared to what I would experience yesterday and today. A group of several hundred birds caught my attention yesterday afternoon (Saturday) when I was out filling bird feeders at my home in rural Athens County (Albany). I could hear a rustling noise off in the distance, quite a ways across the road actually, and even though it was windy, I knew there was no way it was leaves blowing in the breeze. After a few squeaky gate sounds reached my ears, it dawned on me that there was a large pack of Grackles in the neighborhood. They were too far away for me to get any good views even with my binoculars, but I could make out movement well enough to estimate that there were probably 100-200 birds in the flock. This morning, a similar event happened on the hillside right next to our property, and I was able to observe the birds much better. Again, it was several hundred Grackles, probably about 300 of them, with at least a few Red-winged Blackbirds mixed in, but I was never able to spot one of them - I could only hear them. I'm guessing they were on the outer edges of the group? I felt very lucky to have them so close and to be able observe them so well. They spent a large amount of their time rooting through the leaf litter, stirring up whatever insects they could find. The noise was quite amazing: we all know what it sounds like when one person walks through the woods in fall or spring, kicking up dried leaves as they go - well, imagine that you and 50 friends are doing that all at the same time, and that's what these Grackles sounded like. Every once in a while they would all take off from the ground together, making a fantastic whooshing sound with their collective wings, and then land mere feet away from where they had just been, only to begin the whole rooting in the leaf litter process again. They were, of course, calling and vocalizing to each other during all of this, but it wasn't until they ascended into the trees that they became really loud. They were on our property by this time, and as I looked through the trees with my binoculars, I could see that many of them were preening. So it seems they had a quick breakfast, and then were off to hit the showers, so to speak, and making plans for the day. At least I imagine that was what all the raucous conversation was about. I uploaded a short video to YouTube that tries to communicate the din surrounding me. Even though you can't see the birds (my iPod Touch doesn't take great video), you can at least hear them pretty well. The link, if you'd like to watch/listen, is http://youtu.be/7Mayrsddxmw. (And no, that's not a typo with youtu.be...) Good birding! Heather Aubke Albany, OH ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]