Group Gathering

Friday night, we headed down to Highland mall to get a look at the estimated 300,000-500,000 Purple Martins that have gathered together before they will migrate south for the winter.

We got there around 8:00 pm and watched for a good 45 minutes as the enormous flocks of these birds circled in layers over our heads. I was surprised to see around 100 people also gathered in the parking lot to witness the event. At about 8:45 the sky cleared in what seemed like just a minute. I took this picture and there are more, including a video, at the More Photos link to the right. At one point a group of about 8 egrets flew through the mob (of birds).