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Still no major IBWO news (...Bobby Harrison does report, after almost a year wait, finally getting permission to utilize decoys in the search for IBWO). Most of what I've been reading lately about birds in general, especially on the conservation front, is extremely pessimistic stuff, even though often quite predictable. For one rather more unpredictable and bizarre story, this dispiriting news item out of West Virginia:
http://www.timeswv.com/westvirginia/local_story_274113358.html
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3 comments:
Actually, ct, this kind of migratory bird kill is quite predictable, and not at all unusual in this day of lighted structures. The truly bizarre part of the story is that school and health officials panicked and closed the school because they thought that toxins of some kind might be involved. The latest figures I've seen (from a DNR biologist) is that about 150 dead birds of multiple species were recovered from the scene.
hi John, yeah migratory bird kill is common, but more often (in my experience) at night and at somewhat tallish buildings (certainly not entirely) -- this building didn't sound that tall, and it seemed odd that birds were still swirling and crashing when people arrived I assume during daylight. Maybe the fog is indeed the only explanation required, but I think it good they're doing toxicological work to see if something else messed with the birds navigation systems, especially since there have been some toxicological-related bird kills in the last couple yrs.
This school building was located atop a prominent hill, it was lit with bright lights, it was a foggy night, and it was still dark when the principal arrived at the school and found birds crashing into windows. It sounds to me like a typical case of migrating birds being disoriented in the dark by a combination of bright lights and fog.
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