On my walk home tonight I saw these birds flying around in formations that resembled the Danish sort sol, or “black sun”. I felt compelled to pull out my camera and snap a few stills. As it happens, my 21mm lens broke last weekend, so instead I had my 35mm with me, which turned out to be the perfect focal length, capturing the whole flock without feeling too wide or too tight.

The birds disappeared behind a building for a moment, but they returned and continued swarming above the intersection at Grove and Market, with a fiery orange sunset glowing in the distance. This was something that had to be captured with video. So I started recording, not even sure what my camera’s video settings were set to—I didn’t want to interrupt the moment. I recorded for several minutes, when, like clockwork, they all descended to the roof of the public library, and then into the trees for the night.