They’re not back

In a couple of posts last fall I talked about and showed pictures of the grackles that were massing at sundown each day on the power lines at US 183 and Braker Ln. This year we saw the grackles (Quiscalus mexicanus) gathered there in large numbers one evening about a month ago, but never again since then. Why they vanished from their evening haunt I don’t know, but their disappearance has put an end to hopes for a new round of photographs this season. Oh well, there’s nothing for it but to post a picture from my archives. The photo you see here is from December 7, 2011, exactly a year ago. The reddish tinge on everything in the foreground, including the bird’s feathers, came from the light of the setting sun. Making a first appearance in these pages is the moon, which served as a convenient halo for the grackle, even if many people consider these birds anything but saintly.

© 2012 Steven Schwartzman