Alfred Hitchcock ~ The Birds

Just 7 days ago the Sharp-shinned Hawk was making backyard history and today we relive the epic Hitchcock movie "The Birds."

It snowed overnight and when I opened the blinds I was rewarded with a picture perfect winter scene.



 About 10 AM Ginger said there was a "herd" of birds in the backyard.  I asked her if she meant flock and she said no, it seemed more like a herd to her.  So I went to check it out.

The following pictures are of Starlings.  They are known for their large flocks but I have to say that I've never seen anything like the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds... of birds that stopped by for a bath.  Maybe not rare for Starlings but rare for me to witness.  They were on every waterfall en masse.  Some, that were apparently too low in the heirarchy, had to make due with snow baths.  It surely was a "bathing frenzy."  For those relegated to snow baths, some looked like they were making snow angels. 

If you wish to see the original sized picture just double click the picture and by magic the original will appear.

And here is a video taken with my tiny camera and held in my shakey hands:

If you watch closely you will see that every now and then a Starling will get washed over the falls or pushed over, not sure which.  You would think these creatures had never seen a waterfall before.

They were here in force for about 25-30 minutes and then the crowd stated to thin and now they are all gone with nothing left except tracks and crap in the snow.

Whoohoo!!