A murmuration of smoke — who cares about starlings?

Contrarian friend Dave Atkinson one-ups that video of a starling flock's undulations. Walking home the other day from my work at the University of Prince Edward Island, I saw two men ahead of me on the Confederation Trail. They were mesmerized by something in the sky. One of them was taking photographs with his phone. At first, I thought they were watching an eagle, as they're not uncommon in Charlottetown. When I caught up to them, they asked if I could see the magic smoke. "Magic smoke?" I asked, wondering if they'd inhaled some. "Yeah, look!" Low on the horizon, a few hundred metres away, whisps of...