I spent time with my family in South Jersey over Christmas week. We were greeted every day with huge flocks of "blackbirds" mostly grackles. When I googled this phenomenon I found that this massing of the birds happens regularly. The birds are on their way south but stay around until snow cover prevents them from feeding. The grackles did make a din. Their wing beats and movements created a constant swishing sound. They chattered and then fell silent. Thousands of them. They moved to the oaks in my sister's woods, to the cornfield behind my other sister's house. The black cloud rose in a swarm depositing birdie "gifts" as they flew.
People were amazed, but also fearful. There was real annoyance over the droppings on cars and decks and steps. Folks said it was eerie and reminiscent of the movie, The Birds. Some folks shot off guns to scare the birds away.
I enjoyed the movement, the murmurations. I enjoyed seeing a huge flock of wildlife, perhaps like things were before Europeans came and annihilated so much of the natural world. Yes, I even enjoyed being slightly freaked out by the foreboding clouds and feeling that we humans weren't the dominant species in our neighborhood, for a short while. Maybe I experienced what other species can't communicate about the press of another species on its territory.