Cool Image: Weather Radar Catches HUGE Flock of Swallows

That half circle shaped "shower" in the middle
of this weather radar image is not rain, but tree swallows.  

In the radar loop in this post, taken a few days ago, you see, if you look closely, a few showers trudging slowly southeastward near Niantic, Connecticut.

Then what's that?  What looks like another shower abruptly forms in the center of the screen, near Old Lyme, Connecticut, expands and flies super fast westward and dissipates.

Now THAT'S some weird weather!

Or not. That slow shower near Niantic was rain, for sure, but that weird westward moving image in the radar is a big, big, big flock of tree swallows taking off

The flock was so big weather radar picked it up.

My understanding is the sheer number of these tree swallows is absolutely spectacular. There's even an outfit called Connecticut River Expeditions which will take you out there this time of year to watch the show. Tree swallows congregate by the millions in the lower Connecticut River  basin in late August and September.

Watch. It's pretty cool. Especially for us weather geeks: