A Gathering With No Purpose

Thousands of small birds gathered in the field just beyond my office window, simple sparrows I think.  The sound was audible even though the windows were closed.  The reason for the gathering was never obvious and the behavior quite uncommon for these little birds, at least here in our fields.  For a several minutes new birds continued to come as I tried to find the tripod for my video camera.  The golden field that had been a harvest of wheat only  weeks ago was covered with a noisy blanket of dark feathers.  Then, as I  was setting up, the entire mass rose at once and flew a few feet overhead towards the west and there was silence.
 
Sometimes an unexpected event takes me beyond the clockworks of my mind and reconnects me with the world outside.  Lucky for me that it happened today.