Mac Dickson Enters a Hitchcock Movie Going to Work

The blackbirds are back! The Augusta Plaza, where 92 Moose is located, was invaded this morning.

The parking lot is currently covered with snow, thanks to Storm Stella, but earlier this morning, it was blanketed with hundreds, if not thousands, of blackbirds.

The birds have invaded the Augusta Plaza before, but never quite as many as this morning.

A few years ago as I was walking to the station door at 3:30am, it was so quiet as usual. I put my key in the door and turned the lock. There was a slight noise as the door opened, and I jumped a mile. That slight noise caused hundreds and hundreds of blacklbirds to come pouring out of nearby trees. They had been completely still up to that point.

It was like I was in a Hitchcock movie!

Why do they gather? Well, according to wild.enature.com,

...though studies have been inconclusive, it’s generally believed that there is safety in numbers. With many more eyes and ears to search for food and watch for predators, the chance of an individual bird surviving winter is increased. There are reports of hawks attacking flocks of flying birds time and again, but failing to capture even one when the prey closed ranks to form a mass that the hawk was unwilling or unable to penetrate without being injured.