Lost Flock?

Heavy winds blew tree fronds, patio furniture and sand everywhere last night. This desert is at the foot of steeply rising mountains, where wind funnels through the San Gorgonio Pass from the L.A. basin. Traveling through the pass in those conditions is not advised. I imagine flying through the pass would be pretty dicey, too.

Sauntering along at my end of Oliver's leash this morning, I happened to glance up at the blue sky. I saw three groups of white objects swirling about 300 feet above me. They sparkled white, then faded to gray, then flashed white again. It was as if a giant child flung handfuls of glitter in the air. At first I thought it might be bits of paper carried aloft by high wind currents, but I noticed their movements approximated those of fish in a large school. I watched, open-mouthed, as they morphed into large white birds with gray wingtips, apparently moving aimlessly as a group. Every few minutes another bird or small group of birds appeared and joined the swirl. If a strong flyer broke out and headed east or west, several birds followed until they changed their minds and went back to the larger groups.

Were they lost? Did the wind break them up last night? Do they just like to swirl? Whatever, they were beautiful and mesmerizing. I hope they got themselves together or found a safe place to rest. We're having wind again tonight.