Probably hanging out with friends on Goose Island near the mouth of the Connecticut River. Discovered in the late 20th century, the annual murmuration of tree swallows beginning their migration from breeding grounds further north to winter refuges in the southern United States occurs at sunset over this reedy, river island most late September nights. Recently we had the good fortune of a gracious invitation to join family members on a Connecticut River outing to witness this astonishing spectacle. We assume our very own tree swallows were among the throng but failed to spot them.

What brings our tree swallows to this gathering? The prevailing theory is that there is safety in numbers, that local raptors like this juvenile bald eagle would not venture into such a swirling mass of avian life to select a single victim for dinner. After gathering overhead, as if on cue, the swallows funnel down to roost on Goose Island, spend the night, and at sunrise repeat the whole display in reverse.

The estuary of the Connecticut River is a bird lovers paradise, so much so that none other than Roger Tory Peterson, author in 1934 of the first field guide to birds, moved here in 1954 to spend the rest of his life. So no wonder that the tree swallows eventually discovered the area as well and established one of the largest murmurations in the region. Usually associated with starlings, the word murmuration has its roots in a similar Latin word meaning grumbling or murmuring. It is actually the word used for a group of starlings and probably relates to the noise made by a huge flock of murmurating starlings. In contrast, the swallows’ murmuration seemed relatively quiet at least from our vantage point. Maybe swallows are more content and less inclined to grumble. Here’s a video version, but cameras, video or still, even in the hands of Alfred Hitchcock, are challenged to capture this visual phenomenon, which is so large that it shows up on weather radar hopefully not mistaken for the meterological tornado that it resembles. We were joined by kayaks, canoes, powered boats of all sizes, and the Becky Thatcher riverboat’s murmuration cruise sponsored by the Connecticut Audubon Society as viewing of this amazing show has become ever more popular.