Bird squadrons

We went and saw the Christmas Parade this morning but oh, did my photos suck. Hahahaha! It's entirely possible I was too teary eyed with all the happy kids and the highschool band to see what I was doing.
That's my excuse, anyway.

Was pootling about after the Beloved had gone off to play Santa assist Santa in these busy times when I heard bird noises. Noises about a million birds together would make. So, I went exploring and found them a block away covering at least 7 trees in total.
Of course, by the time I got there most of them had moved on, but there was still a good crowd there, flying back and forth is small stealthy formations. I'm thinking they are starlings, but none of them came close enough to be really sure.

I also found that my bird feeders, despite attempts to actually attract birds, are a constant source of cornucopic delight for all the squirrels in the neighbourhood. *sigh* As a small consolation; the back yard neighbours with their fancy squirrel-repellents and whatnots are not doing much better: I saw one hanging from a suet cake over there. Ha! Ha! Ha!

Sinterklaas was visiting Grand Rapids today, but we couldn't go. I feel, no I AM deprived of my cultural icon! Next year, Sint, and you'd better practise your Dutch :)

My computer is being a total biotch, so I'm quickly posting this before everything collapses. Oh, I posted yesterdays Blip earlier today, if you want to know why I sound so happy ;)