As I opened my son's bedroom window this morning (airing the room, pre-teen boys stink, in case you didn't know) I head birds twittering.  Nothing unusual in that, we have lots of trees around, and there are always birds somewhere.

But this was loud, and it was getting louder.  I looked up at the sky, and saw a swirling, chirping mass of sparrow descending into my yard.  There must have been thousands of them, flapping and tweeting and pecking and pooping.....the air was literally dark with them.  They landed in the tree in the back yard, on the roof, and in the tree in the front yard, and the noise was almost deafening. 

I went and stood at the screen door to watch them...I was too afraid to step outside.  I was reminded of Hitchcock's 'The Birds' and envisioned myself being pecked to death by a flock of angry sparrows.....ugggh.  The lawn looked like it was alive, it was heaving with little feathered bodies, all squirming and fluttering and squawking...

...then, as quickly as they arrived, they departed...taking off en masse, a cloud of flitting sparrows.  I watched them go up and over the houses, changing direction in an instant, as if not a one of them actually knew where they were going - they were just going. 

Going south, I do believe.