Flocking to the mall. #Wordless Wednesday

Posted on November 30, 2022 by Linda Schaub

Wordless Wednesday – allow your photo(s) to tell the story.

About Linda Schaub

This is my first blog and I enjoy writing each post immensely. I started a walking regimen in 2011 and in 2013 I decided to create a blog as a means of memorializing the people, places and things seen on my daily walks. I have always enjoyed people watching, so my blog is peppered with folks I meet or reflections of characters I have known through the years. Often something piques my interest, or evokes a pleasant memory from my memory bank, so this becomes a “slice o’ life” blog post. I respect and appreciate nature and my interactions with Mother Nature’s gifts is also a common theme. Sometimes the most-ordinary items become fodder for points to ponder over and touch upon. I retired in March 2024 after a career in the legal field. I was a legal secretary for almost 45 years, primarily working in downtown Detroit, then working from my home. I graduated from Wayne State University with a degree in Mass Communications (print journalism) in 1978, though I’ve never worked in that field. I would like to think this blog is the writer in me finally emerging!! Walking and writing have met, shaken hands and the creative juices are flowing in Walkin’, Writin’, Wit & Whimsy. I hope you think so too. - Linda Schaub
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53 Responses to Flocking to the mall. #Wordless Wednesday

  1. rajkkhoja says:
    November 30, 2022 at 5:06 am

    Wonderful birds flying. Beautiful birds sky.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. peggy says:
    November 30, 2022 at 6:46 am

    Wow – now that is a bunch of birds.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      November 30, 2022 at 8:17 pm

      That first picture doesn’t do justice to the murmuration of Starlings that passed over me. I was looking at some movement in the bushes (which I thought was a fox, but it turned out to be a cat), so I was distracted, then saw them out of the corner of my eye and scrambled to take the photo. Amazing to see that many birds at one time fill the sky.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. Dave says:
    November 30, 2022 at 7:43 am

    Photo #1 looks like a ticker tape parade! (Not that your younger readers know what “ticker tape” is – ha.)

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      November 30, 2022 at 8:18 pm

      Dave, I also wonder how many readers know what a ticker tape parade is? I’ve seen a few of them in my day because I worked in the Downtown Detroit business district for many years before my boss/I moved a mile down the road. The Red Wings won the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the Pistons won back-to-back NBA Championships so there was a ticker tape parade for all these. The cool thing about this was many of the office buildings were old and had windows that opened up so people were hanging out the windows throwing confetti and streamers as well as what was scattered by helicopters and the like.

      Liked by 1 person

      • Dave says:
        December 1, 2022 at 7:41 am

        That’s a nice memory, Linda. The Red Wings not so much. They were the Avalanche’s rivals back when we first moved to Colorado, the hated Red Wings. It was only because they were so much better while the Avalanche were just getting their footing. Nice to be defending champions for once 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        December 1, 2022 at 8:18 pm

        I remember the rivalry and a big fight Dave. The Wings were good then, now they’ve been in rebuilding mode for a while (same as the Tigers and Lions).

        Like

      • Dave says:
        December 2, 2022 at 8:18 am

        I never thought about it until you mentioned the Lions and the Tigers, but the Wings or the Pistons should’ve been the Bears so you could talk about your pro sports teams with a Wizard of Oz “Oh my!” 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        December 2, 2022 at 8:55 pm

        Funny you say that line Dave, because awhile ago, I can’t remember the year, the Tigers were in the first round of playoffs and da Bears were in town for a Lions game and both stadiums are downtown. In fact, all of our Detroit teams are based in downtown Detroit now. Anyway, the traffic was expected to be horrendous and I can remember seeing a newspaper stand with a newspaper headline “Lion and Tigers and Bears – Oh My!”

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  4. Kate Crimmins says:
    November 30, 2022 at 8:32 am

    Safety in numbers is what comes to my mind!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Laurie says:
    November 30, 2022 at 7:59 pm

    We have groups of crows like the ones in your photos near our mall too. I wonder what it is that draws them to a mall? A murder of crows!

    Liked by 1 person

  6. Terri Webster Schrandt says:
    November 30, 2022 at 9:11 pm

    I love it when the huge flocks just up and go in a big whirl. I never can figure out how some can stay so tight in flight and not knock each other out of the sky. In human terms, I’m sure the malls were getting packed with early Christmas shoppers!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      November 30, 2022 at 10:28 pm

      I wish I could have gotten the “swoop” part of this murmuration as well Terri. I was distracted by movement in the bulrushes, which turned out to be a cat, then I looked up and saw this.

      There was a video online several years ago about birds, I believe Starlings, in a huge murmuration. It was a small Mexican town and townspeople were watching and videotaping the sight of so many birds in the sky. The birds were suddenly startled by a loud noise and many did in fact crash into one another and buildings and trees as well. They were almost flowing together effortlessly in the sky until that point and it was sad to see what happened.

      Liked by 1 person

  7. indianeskitchen says:
    November 30, 2022 at 11:50 pm

    That’s a lot of birds Linda! Love the title of your post.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      December 1, 2022 at 7:46 pm

      Yes, the sky was just filled with them Diane – it was incredible to see. Glad you liked the title. I thought I’d do some Christmassy themes leading up to Christmas.

      Like

  8. Shelley@QuaintRevival.com says:
    December 1, 2022 at 5:57 am

    Clever title to your post. Aren’t those flocks so fascinating to watch? I always wonder, who is the natural leader? Or maybe they all say in unison, “Let’s go!”

    Liked by 1 person

  9. Hugh W. Roberts says:
    December 1, 2022 at 7:26 am

    Alfred Hitchcock’s movie, ‘The Birds,’ came to mind while looking at the photos, Linda. But that’s the dark side of my brain kicking in.

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Tom's Nature-up-close Photography and Mindfulness Blog says:
    December 1, 2022 at 9:23 pm

    I’ve got to stop tossing potato chips for the birds at the mall! 😉

    Liked by 1 person

  11. Michelle says:
    December 3, 2022 at 10:33 am

    Oh wow! What amazing photos. It’s not often we get to capture flocks this large.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      December 3, 2022 at 4:31 pm

      It sure was amazing to see Michelle. I wish I could have captured the “swooping and diving” the starlings make during a murmuration, but I was looking at something in the bushes, thinking it was a fox or a mink and it was a cat!

      Like

  12. Amorina Rose says:
    December 4, 2022 at 5:08 am

    Amazing sight but I too thought of The Birds.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      December 4, 2022 at 10:23 pm

      I wish I could have captured the “swoop” part Barbara. I like how the murmurations move together and suddenly swoop, then regroup in a matter of seconds. There was a movement in the bushes and it was a cat … I was hoping for something exciting like a fox or a mink, so I looked up and there were the birds. There are mink in the marshy areas of this park. Alfred Hitchcock would have been happy to use them in his movie as they filled the entire sky.

      Like

  13. singlikewildflowers says:
    December 4, 2022 at 7:04 pm

    Black Friday sale! We have a congregation of birds too in our neighborhood. Kiddos say they are having an afternoon meeting and snack together before they go home for the night. lol
    Wonder why they do that though.

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Janis @ RetirementallyChallenged.com says:
    December 5, 2022 at 2:50 pm

    To see a murmuration in person is definitely on my bucket list.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      December 5, 2022 at 10:48 pm

      When I mentioned this murmuration to you awhile ago, I had hoped there would be a little swooping in some of the shots, but there was not. Truly, the best way to capture it is by video. I hope you get to see one Janis.

      Like

    • Linda Schaub says:
      December 12, 2022 at 7:48 pm

      Hi Janis – a while back you and I were discussing murmurations (before I did this post). My still photo really never showed the beauty of a murmuration. I found this video – is this not a beautiful and calming natural event?

      Like

      • Janis @ RetirementallyChallenged.com says:
        December 13, 2022 at 6:34 pm

        Thank you for the video! They are truly amazing… it’s like they are creating ever-changing artwork in the sky. Do you know if anyone knows (or, has a theory) why they do this? Nature always has a reason.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Linda Schaub says:
        December 13, 2022 at 7:54 pm

        Glad you liked it Janis. It was like it was choreographed and like artwork. You and I lived through the 70s and Lava Lamps. It reminds me a little of a Lava Lamp as to the movement. I’m going to hold onto that video – it was so relaxing to watch. I have read that Starlings flock like that and band together when there is a predator (safety in numbers) and that helps thwart the predator from attacking any member of the flock. There are Osprey, Eagles and Hawks at the park where I saw the murmuration and I’ve seen smaller murmurations there before – that is likely why.

        Liked by 1 person

  15. Barbara Rodgers says:
    December 10, 2022 at 8:39 am

    It’s amazing how many starlings can flock together and fly in unison. Sometimes, when flying back and forth between different trees, they can’t seem to make up their minds which way the group should go!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      December 10, 2022 at 7:45 pm

      I am amazed they don’t bump into each other more Barbara. I wish I could have captured their “swoop and dive” when the whole group becomes a blur. I often see them at this park and that’s the largest murmuration I’ve seen to date.

      Liked by 1 person

  16. J P says:
    December 12, 2022 at 5:49 am

    I guess I’m now dating myself when the Hitchcock movie is the first thing these shots made me think of.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Linda Schaub says:
      December 12, 2022 at 7:33 pm

      Nope, you’re not dating yourself JP because if you ever see a starling murmuration, they just fill the sky and swoop and dive all at once. It’s incredible to see it as they move like they are choreographed. If the murmuration is big enough, like this one, you can’t see the sky for birds!

      Like

    • Linda Schaub says:
      December 12, 2022 at 7:37 pm

      I hope one day to take a video of a starling murmuration. It is a beautiful sight. Here is a short YouTube video JP:

      Like

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