This is to answer Ted Floyd's posting on immense roosts (he wondered where the common grackles were roosting). Most of the ten (or twenty) thousand common grackles are roosting at Sombrero Marsh where 63rd street dead-ends, one block south of Arapaho in Boulder. I watched them with Steve Jones, Shelley Schlender, and Oak Thorne on October 23 when the first flocks started arriving around 5:45 p.m. "Then thick and fast they came at last. And more and more and more." The show was over at 6:20 though the grackle cackle continued in the bullrushes and a great horned owl started hooting. Glenn and I went out again Oct. 24 for a repeat performance, and the timing was the same. I also went out about 40 minutes before sunrise on Oct. 26 hoping for a big whoosh to take off, and that wasn't so spectacular. They seem to leave in smaller groups, and they are flying lower against a darkish background so they are harder to see. I wonder if the predicted snow for Monday night will speed them on their way south???? Carol Cushman East Boulder County
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