Last week I shared a video of our Austin Purple Martin Roost, where many thousands of Purple Martins soar together through the July sky before settling in for the night. These large flocks are called roosts, and eventually the birds will migrate together group by group to South America, where they will fatten up on insects during the winter before heading back to North America next year to nest once again. I went back a few days ago, this time with a functioning battery in my regular camera, to capture a series of images of the birds.
When we first arrived, the birds were still mostly in the sky.
But as the sky darkened, the birds began to come in to land. They had only a few trees, maybe three in all, that were the choice resting spot. Other trees nearby remained empty.
The sheer numbers of Purple Martins continue to astonish me, and the very loud zzzhhhhh sound of the birds in the trees could rival the worst summer cicada population.
It can be tricky to find for the birds to find a place to perch as they join their companions.
Just look at how many birds eventually gather together on each branch! It amazes me the trees manage to stay upright under all that weight.
This time, there was a crowd of bird watchers gathered in the nearby mall parking lot for the occasion. They oohed and aahed, too. Most of them stayed farther back, while a few brave souls joined me by the trees. For the sake of these pictures, I got pooped on three times — thank goodness for my giant floppy hat!