Birds

Yesterday, while I was scrapbooking at the table in the sunroom, I had the sliding door open to let in some of the luscious, cool fresh air in.

I kept hearing these birds that I love because their chirps sound just a bit like water dripping.

It's hard to describe or mimic.

Usually, there's not just one or two, there's hundreds. A few Septembers ago, I got photos of them bathing in a street puddle just a few houses down from ours.

Sometimes, when they visit, I watch them gather in a yard. They drift down from a nearby tree in groups with such rare and appealing grace, and when something startles them, they take wing in unison, while others begin to drift down.

Just before they take flight together, their watery chirping goes eerily silent.

Some of them are dark, dark brown, almost black, with shiny blue heads, and others are the same dark brown, but with lighter speckles. I think they're called grackles.

Whatever they're called...I love those birds.

I caught one hanging out on a wire.

And one perched on the fence in our back yard. I was standing at the back door, and it was softly raining.

Someday, I hope to capture these fascinating birds in flight.