At Huntley Meadows in Fairfax County along the informal trail down Barnyard Run
this morning, I saw a flock of about 60 Rusty Blackbirds. Most of them landed
in the trees above my head and began their "rusty gate" vocalizations. Before
I could go through them all, they took off together and headed south and out of
sight. As far as I could tell,they were all Rusties.since I did not hear any
other blackbird calls and the birds all appeared to be the same size and shape
when they were flying away. Other birds I saw included an adult Cooper's Hawk,
a pair of Hooded Mergansers, and a Fox Sparrow.
Larry Meade
Vienna, VA
