BIRDS
On the side of the road, somewhere near Eagle Lake, Texas... i saw the ground move.
A few yards from the roadside, the yellow field turned black and appeared to undulate and shutter as if breathing uneasily. Then suddenly the black field appeared to rise up as a wall and come apart like a net swooping towards our car. After some moments (a rather embarrassing amount of time, if i am honest) we realized we were watching BIRDS - so many as to nearly blot out the sun.
Not without a substantial amount of Alfred Hitchcock on the mind we decide to venture closer...
Later, we were informed that such sights are not that unusual as during the non-breeding season red-winged blackbirds spend much of their time in grasslands, farm fields, and pastures looking for seeds to eat. It is also common for them to be found in large flocks that feature various other blackbird species, such as grackles, cowbirds, and starlings.
we learned many things this day - not least of all, that this type of flock can be called a "murmuration" although the term is usually reserved for starlings.