I titled this “Flight of the Magpies” because I thought it sounded a little better than flight of the grackles,crows and starlings which would probably be a little more accurate. Every region has its blackbird. I mostly see grackles around here.
Anyway, I was listening to NPR last week, I tried to find the podcast and couldn’t (sorry!), but the gist of the story was this… They were conducting interviews of small towns in the mid-southern US and how the black bird migrations effected their springs every year. You are thinking “it’s a black bird how could it really effect anyone’s life?” Well, that’s the funny thing. The blackbirds travel down to south America for the winter and then make their way back up north in the spring. So? Did I mention they travel by the thousands? Yeah. It’s one of those wild phenomena.
Here is a clip I found on YOUTUBE ABOUT BLACKBIRD MIGRATIONS. Wild stuff. Well, in Rhode Island, we don’t really get that many, but we get enough that you know when they are back.
Sure enough, I was driving past one of our farms in Charlestown and at first glimpse I thought it weird the trees had leaves. Trees don’t have leaves this time of year. Then I noticed some leaves were hopping from one branch to the other. Aha, I caught it! Just after listening to a very cool program on these little nuisances, I caught their arrival! I’m not a farmer, so they really don’t bother me much. Just this week, I started seeing some grackles at my bird feeder. Occasionally I see a red-winged black bird and I simply think both are gorgeous. Their eyes glow, their feathers are an iridescent black. They are so very cool.
So that was my random thought this morning or should I say random image. The trees filled with blackbirds.
The point I want to make about it is AWARENESS. I know we all rush around with a million human things that need to get accomplished, but there is so much pleasure in doing the absolute opposite. Once in a while, if you can be aware enough to tune out of your head, you can catch a glimpse of the Earth doing its majestic thing. Humans have nothing to do with it, its been happening for millions of years and if we look and pay attention, we can enjoy it’s unfolding. Mother Nature.
I feel blessed to have caught another glimpse this week.
Be Creative Mary 
What a lovely painting, the Colour and patterns are great, the story makes it even better. Karen
Thank you Karen!
This is a really fun piece and the back story makes its even more interesting.
Thank you for taking the time to critique. I love that I am finding this wonderful collection of artists. So supportive and so very different. I caught your pointillism. Another avenue I forgot about. Great to see what everyone is thinking. It makes everyone inspired!