Hey Nancy!   
      
    NB> perhaps they banded together for safety   
      
   Offhand I don't think so but I am not exactly an expert on the subject.  From   
   what I've seen over the past 20 years or so the flock is anywhere between 15   
   to 30 birds depending on the season.  As for the range it could be bigger than   
   I've noticed but it seems about right.  This year has been different as far as   
   how often I've spotted them and never did see any chicks this year.  Mind you   
   I don't believe I've seen any of the local flock since May.  My neighbour Paul   
   claims to have heard them in the brambles by his place but never actually saw   
   them.   
      
    NB> Do the others accept you as a regular now...?   
      
   The long time residents do.  We call ourselves lifers.  There are about a half   
   dozen of us left as a few have died and a few have moved on to other pastures,   
   usually due to health reasons some call 'old age'.  Although I am not exactly   
   a spring chicken I am hoping to squeeze out a few more years and this is as   
   good of a place for squeezing out years as any I have run across.  I have run   
   across some very beautiful places but the living there would be much more   
   demanding than this place is and is very beautiful in the grand scheme of all   
   things in the beauty realm.  Also the lifers, and some of the newbies, depend   
   on me for linking their so-called smartphones to the vast wasteland of   
   cyberspace.  Beats me why I am the guru of smartphones given that I have never   
   owned one and don't have any plans to ever get one.  I think they are   
   overpriced annoying pieces of crap.   
      
   Silly people.   
      
   Life is good,   
   Maurice   
      
   ... Cybertoasts of note:   
       2019-01-01 is  133 days from now and falls on a Tuesday.   
       2024-11-05 is 2268 days from now and falls on a Tuesday.   
   --- GNU bash, version 4.4.23(1)-release (x86_64-silvermont-linux-gnu)   
    * Origin: Little Mikey's Brain - Ladysmith BC, Canada (1:153/7001)