Re: [SBB] unusual flock behavior?

[Les Chibana <[[email protected]]>]

If they were holding their wings high and wiggling them while on the 
mudflats, they could be Cliff Swallows gathering mud for nest building. 
I don't know if they would still be nest building as in many other 
areas, they're far along in nesting, having already completed nests. 
I've never seen as many as 150 Cliff Swallows doing this before, so I 
don't know if this is what they were.

Les
---
Les Chibana
Chibana Design
SR2 Box 335
La Honda CA 94020

em <[[email protected]]>
ph 650-949-4335
fx 650-949-4137
mo 650-207-1538

On Jun 19, 2005, at 10:53 PM, R. Strait wrote:

> Hello,
>
> While walking at Sunnyvale Baylands Park this evening I noticed a lot 
> of
> birds on the now dried mud flat out from the observation platform at 
> the end
> of the Wave Walk.  With binoculars I could tell that the birds were 
> small,
> blackish above and white underneath.  They were too far away for me to
> identify the species.  There were about 150 birds and they stayed on 
> the
> dry, seemingly barren surface for all of the time I watched them.
>
> The most likely species would probably be Cliff Swallows since these 
> birds
> fly over the park daily.  But, if they were indeed Cliff Swallows, what
> would they have been doing gathering in such large numbers and staying 
> on
> the ground for an extended period?  All this occurred right after 7:00 
> p.m.
> I thought the birds might have been larger than Swallows, but at such a
> distance I couldn't tell.  I sure could have used a telescope at this 
> point.
>
> Is gathering on the ground in large numbers something that Swallows 
> do?  I'd
> appreciate any comments.  I may try to take a telescope tomorrow 
> evening and
> hope for a repeat performance.  I'll report back if I learn something 
> more.
>
> Rosalie Strait

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