We received word that Miscanthus harvest got started at the Dunbar blackbird roost earlier this week. Though we have not been there to confirm the status in person, we assume that this marks the end of large-scale roosting at that field for the season. We also assume that this means a lot of blackbirds will be seeking out alternative roost sites. We’re pretty certain that there are other regional roost sites to be found, and we’d be very interested to hear reports of other roosts or suspected roosts. The key is to pay attention to the flight direction of streams of birds in the evening when they’re headed to roost sites (or in the morning, when they’re headed away). We’ve had success in following them by vehicle, though it may take a little luck for the end point to be viewable from a public road.
Based on observations of flight trajectories on a few occasions, we have a hunch that there’s a roost somewhere southwest of the Missouri River relative to Eagle Bluffs, perhaps in Moniteau County? And we also made one observation last winter from Bradford Farm of a rather substantial southbound flow at dusk that suggested a roost perhaps farther south in Boone County, or perhaps in Callaway? We were unable to follow up on these. However, observations from home over multiple years confirm that evening flight direction many miles from a roost can provide clues to roost location and activity. Again, we’d be delighted to know what others are noticing in the way of big blackbird concentrations.
Joanna & Eric Reuter
Boone County, MO
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