Very nice, Lee. Love watching that, but didn't know the name of it. Thanks
for posting that.

Anyone else have any other, similar descriptions that we should be watching
for?

Dusty - Granite Falls, WA
tweeters at innerlodge.com
NB: My apologies if this is a duplicate to anyone. But I keep getting
informed that my post has been disallowed... (:-(


> -----Original Message-----
> From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu [mailto:tweeters-
> bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Lee Rentz
> Sent: 6 November, 2013 10:43
> To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu
> Subject: [Tweeters] Murmuration Observation
>
> While birding along the shore of Whidbey Island this weekend, I watched a
> flock of perhaps 200 Starlings wheeling nearby in the sky. I understand
some
> of the mechanisms of murmurations, wherein the birds closely track the
> movements of their neighbors. This time, I also noticed that the whole
flock
> alternates between flapping wings and gliding. There would be several
> seconds of flying while actively flapping wings, followed by perhaps a one
> second rest time where ALL the birds would stop flapping their wings and
> glide, followed by another session of active flapping, then gliding, and
so on.
> They all, virtually instantaneously, would switch between active and
gliding
> modes. It's like an aerial ballet.
>
> Lee Rentz
> lee at leerentz.com
> Shelton, WA_______________________________________________
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