Back in Bend with three-feet of snow, and pine siskins grasping icicles before flitting to feeders, I’m cozying up to the woodstove and still dreaming of two weeks ago in Chacala, Mexico, with so much time outdoors without coats to take in the tropical birds. Great-tailed Grackles were the most common of all birds, lovers of towns, carousers and comedians, and were easy to observe by Casa de Tortuga’s infinity pool–featuring that perfect shallow end for bird bathing and drinking. So in honor of grackles and in gratitude for a creative, communal week in Mexico–I’m braving another poem and including photos I took of the grackles at the pool.
Seven great-tailed grackles fluster
at the edge of the infinity pool
One male swaggers up to another
Points his bill skyward
Gives a kih-kih-kih!
Met with a fluffed up shir..ieeek!
Brazen boys shimmer in black dress coats
Casting purple iridescence like party favors
Slender girls parade in otter brown plumage
Pluck droplets of water with dagger beaks
Eyes like yellow suns pinned with black dot pupils
Dazzle with sideways inquiry
Wet feathers flump and ruffle
Spraying a rainbow of bathing jokes
Guffaws, squawks, squeals, and whinnies
Crackle the air waves in cacophony
A show-stopper male strides along the rim
Bows and exits in a startle of flight
His keel-shaped tail flares as he sashays
Above the fishing boats of Chacala
Six grackles exchange glances
Before unleashing a torrent of flight
Carousing the clouds
Uncorking the champagne afternoon
Kingfisher Journey- Marina Richie 
Love it! Thanks for letting me relive the Grackles in Chacala!
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