OT: Interesting bird experience today



T

TheAlligator

Guest
Well, I rarely pay attention to birds, since there are so many around
here. I usually take time to observe the daily geese commute -
there's a Hunting club nearby that keeps a large group of
partly-domesticated ones. Every day at sunrise, they fly over my
house to spend the day at a lake at the back of the property, then fly
home around or shortly after sunset. And I occasionally notice the
odd mockingbird or two, since they're free entertainment. The spring
migration has apparently begun. Shortly after 6am, I had to make a
quick run down the road. I looked up and thought, "great, more
thunderstorms rolling in". Wrong. It was an approaching CLOUD of
birds that I could not see either end of on the horizon, left to
right. Anyway, I got home, and went out to feed 2 of the dogs. Said
bird cloud engulfed us all. Hundreds of thousands of them. Never
seen anything like it, at least not from this perspective. Rather
than go nuts, the dogs were completely frozen in time. In contrast,
the collie-shepherd mix is famous for snatching low-flying birds out
of mid-air and killing them. AT this point I figure, well I haven't
had my shower yet anyway, so I just stood there and waited for the
experience. The bottom layer was so low, and so close to us, that
they whipped up enough wind to make my hair stand straight up.
Hundreds of them literally passed my head so close that if I had
moved, they would have nailed me. Everyone should have this
experience. Cool beyond belief.
 
"I usually take time to observe the daily geese commute -
there's a Hunting club nearby that keeps a large group of
partly-domesticated ones. Every day at sunrise, they fly over my
house to spend the day at a lake at the back
--------------------------
Fascinating! Were they all geese? Canadian Geese or snow geese? What
part of the country? Seems to me that it's too early for a spring
migration, but that depends upon where you are.
Nancree
 
TheAlligator wrote:
> Well, I rarely pay attention to birds, since there are so many around
> here. I usually take time to observe the daily geese commute -
> there's a Hunting club nearby that keeps a large group of
> partly-domesticated ones. Every day at sunrise, they fly over my
> house to spend the day at a lake at the back of the property, then
fly
> home around or shortly after sunset. And I occasionally notice the
> odd mockingbird or two, since they're free entertainment. The spring
> migration has apparently begun. Shortly after 6am, I had to make a
> quick run down the road. I looked up and thought, "great, more
> thunderstorms rolling in". Wrong. It was an approaching CLOUD of
> birds that I could not see either end of on the horizon, left to
> right. Anyway, I got home, and went out to feed 2 of the dogs. Said
> bird cloud engulfed us all. Hundreds of thousands of them. Never
> seen anything like it, at least not from this perspective. Rather
> than go nuts, the dogs were completely frozen in time. In contrast,
> the collie-shepherd mix is famous for snatching low-flying birds out
> of mid-air and killing them. AT this point I figure, well I haven't
> had my shower yet anyway, so I just stood there and waited for the
> experience. The bottom layer was so low, and so close to us, that
> they whipped up enough wind to make my hair stand straight up.
> Hundreds of them literally passed my head so close that if I had
> moved, they would have nailed me. Everyone should have this
> experience. Cool beyond belief.

What were you drinking?
 
"Sheldon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> TheAlligator wrote:
> > Well, I rarely pay attention to birds, since there are so many around
> > here. I usually take time to observe the daily geese commute -
> > there's a Hunting club nearby that keeps a large group of
> > partly-domesticated ones. Every day at sunrise, they fly over my
> > house to spend the day at a lake at the back of the property, then
> fly
> > home around or shortly after sunset. And I occasionally notice the
> > odd mockingbird or two, since they're free entertainment. The spring
> > migration has apparently begun. Shortly after 6am, I had to make a
> > quick run down the road. I looked up and thought, "great, more
> > thunderstorms rolling in". Wrong. It was an approaching CLOUD of
> > birds that I could not see either end of on the horizon, left to
> > right. Anyway, I got home, and went out to feed 2 of the dogs. Said
> > bird cloud engulfed us all. Hundreds of thousands of them. Never
> > seen anything like it, at least not from this perspective. Rather
> > than go nuts, the dogs were completely frozen in time. In contrast,
> > the collie-shepherd mix is famous for snatching low-flying birds out
> > of mid-air and killing them. AT this point I figure, well I haven't
> > had my shower yet anyway, so I just stood there and waited for the
> > experience. The bottom layer was so low, and so close to us, that
> > they whipped up enough wind to make my hair stand straight up.
> > Hundreds of them literally passed my head so close that if I had
> > moved, they would have nailed me. Everyone should have this
> > experience. Cool beyond belief.
>
> What were you drinking?

Or smoking? Sounds like something out of Hitchcock's 'the Birds '
movie...

I wouldn't think Canada Geese though.

Elaine
 
"nancree" <[email protected]> wrote:
>Fascinating! Were they all geese? Canadian Geese or snow geese? What
>part of the country? Seems to me that it's too early for a spring
>migration, but that depends upon where you are.
>Nancree
>
Central Illinois, close to St. Louis. But the geese weren't part of
the cloud - they come twice a day. Canadian geese. I'm ashamed to
say that I was so entranced, I can't tell you what kind of birds they
were, except small and dark, and not starlings.
 
"Sheldon" <[email protected]> wrote:
>What were you drinking?
>
No, Sheldon, I swear to God. It was beyond belief, as your post
attests. By the way, I can't drink. I'm in stage 4 of 4 -
non-alcoholic advanced liver disease. Waiting for the reaper, don't
you know.
 
"elaine" <[email protected]> wrote:
I would say that I need to post more carefully - but I simply can't
understand why 2 people thought I was talking about geese - millions
of them. The geese were a side-comment.
 
"TheAlligator" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Sheldon" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>What were you drinking?
>>
> No, Sheldon, I swear to God. It was beyond belief, as your post
> attests. By the way, I can't drink. I'm in stage 4 of 4 -
> non-alcoholic advanced liver disease. Waiting for the reaper, don't
> you know.

But, the liver regenerates itself. Isn't this possible in your case?

Elisa (started to tell you a very sad story about losing my father last
October from acute liver failure brought on by a simple surgery, but decided
that it seemed too insensitive)
 
TheAlligator" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Sheldon" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >What were you drinking?
> >
> No, Sheldon, I swear to God. It was beyond belief, as your post
> attests. By the way, I can't drink. I'm in stage 4 of 4 -
> non-alcoholic advanced liver disease. Waiting for the reaper, don't
> you know.

For real? Well then it was a sign!

Elaine
 
"Elisa" <[email protected]> wrote:
>> No, Sheldon, I swear to God. It was beyond belief, as your post
>> attests. By the way, I can't drink. I'm in stage 4 of 4 -
>> non-alcoholic advanced liver disease. Waiting for the reaper, don't
>> you know.
>
>But, the liver regenerates itself. Isn't this possible in your case?
>
>Elisa (started to tell you a very sad story about losing my father last
>October from acute liver failure brought on by a simple surgery, but decided
>that it seemed too insensitive)
>
>
Hi, Elisa. No, it's not insensitive, and if you want to tell me the
story, I'd be very happy to hear it. My father was almost never sick
a day in his life and if he was, he just threw up out the car window
and went to work. A mountain of a man - one I can never dream of
emulating. Suddenly in 1987, his left eyelid started drooping. He
went to St. Louis University Hospital to have some tests done. The
night before was the last time I ever spoke to him before he spent 9
days in a coma and died at 8 am the day after Christmas. I am not
afraid of dying, Elisa. But everyday life is more than I care to deal
with, sometimes. To answer your question - at my stage, regeneration
is not possible and neither is a transplant. Back to ole' St. Louis
University - I have become the love-child of one of their
doctor-researchers - my condition is his particular object of
interest, because it is extremely rare. Guess I should have bought a
lottery ticket <G>. And, based on the very limited statistics of this,
people with my condition seem to re-develop immediately after a
transplant, if they even survive the operation. As a side note . . .
right after I was finally diagnosed (they kept telling me I had the
flu every 3 or 4 weeks for about 4 years) my favorite uncle died of
liver cancer. And he told me, in person "it's not so bad, son - I can
think of a whole lot worse ways to go". Understandably, this has been
a real comfort to me. OK. I swore I would never post this, but I
can't help it. Someone (a friend) gave me this link, and I have to
tell you, it changed my life. No matter what you're going through,
this will change your outlook. It takes about 6 or 7 minutes to watch
and you need highspeed internet. I've only avoided posting it because
of all the virulent God-haters I encounter. At this point in my life,
to heck with them, so here goes. I got a phone call one Sunday
morning from a friend who told me "Just do this",so I went to the
mentioned website (www.farese.com) and sent him an email, ending with
a note to please not bother to respond. Well, he did - and since he
can't move a single muscle, there were various mis-spellings because
it was all done by voice recognition. He doesn't give a **** about
his own afflictions - he wrote me (by VR) a 4-page email trying to
build me up. Quite a man, in my opinion. Go to:
http://www.coralridge.org/BroadcastArchives.asp Click the calendar
back to January 2005 and click on 1/23/05. No, I'm not Presbyterian
(can't even spell it). And if it doesn't change your life, you're
hopeless.
 
"elaine" <[email protected]> wrote:

>TheAlligator" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>news:[email protected]...
>> "Sheldon" <[email protected]> wrote:
>> >What were you drinking?
>> >
>> No, Sheldon, I swear to God. It was beyond belief, as your post
>> attests. By the way, I can't drink. I'm in stage 4 of 4 -
>> non-alcoholic advanced liver disease. Waiting for the reaper, don't
>> you know.
>
>For real? Well then it was a sign!
>
>Elaine
I'm sorry Elaine, but you lost me. Medications and whatnot I assume.
A sign of what? I'm really not being a butthole, - it's a serious
question.
>
>
>
>
 
"TheAlligator" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "elaine" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >TheAlligator" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> >news:[email protected]...
> >> "Sheldon" <[email protected]> wrote:
> >> >What were you drinking?
> >> >
> >> No, Sheldon, I swear to God. It was beyond belief, as your post
> >> attests. By the way, I can't drink. I'm in stage 4 of 4 -
> >> non-alcoholic advanced liver disease. Waiting for the reaper, don't
> >> you know.
> >
> >For real? Well then it was a sign!
> >
> >Elaine
> I'm sorry Elaine, but you lost me. Medications and whatnot I assume.
> A sign of what? I'm really not being a butthole, - it's a serious
> question.

I am so sorry - I was being flippant. Your comment about waiting for the
reaper triggered my skeptical side. Guess I'm the butthole!

Elaine
 
"elaine" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>I am so sorry - I was being flippant. Your comment about waiting for the
>reaper triggered my skeptical side. Guess I'm the butthole!
>
>Elaine
Hey, no apology neccesary. I have to tell you, it was one of the most
unusual things I have ever experienced. It's impossible to transfer
this to someone who has never been there.
 
TheAlligator wrote:
> Well, I rarely pay attention to birds, since there are so many around
> here.

<snip>

Very cool story. I had a similar experience with butterflies once.

I wonder what kind fo birds they were - grackles maybe?

-L.
 
[email protected] (TheAlligator) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> "nancree" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>Fascinating! Were they all geese? Canadian Geese or snow geese? What
>>part of the country? Seems to me that it's too early for a spring
>>migration, but that depends upon where you are.
>>Nancree
>>
> Central Illinois, close to St. Louis. But the geese weren't part of
> the cloud - they come twice a day. Canadian geese. I'm ashamed to
> say that I was so entranced, I can't tell you what kind of birds they
> were, except small and dark, and not starlings.

The Alligator,

First of all they're CANADA (!!!!!) geese. But anyway check it out:

http://gbbc.birdsource.org/gbbcApps/report?
cmd=showReport&reportName=StateSummary&state=US-IL&year=2005
&sortBy=count&order=desc#listTable

Make sure you can paste the whole link to get there.

All the best,

Andy

--
"Ladies and gentlemen, The Beatles!"
- Ed Sullivan (1964)
 
Andy <[email protected]> wrote:
>First of all they're CANADA (!!!!!) geese. But anyway check it out:
>
>http://gbbc.birdsource.org/gbbcApps/report?
>cmd=showReport&reportName=StateSummary&state=US-IL&year=2005
>&sortBy=count&order=desc#listTable
>
>Make sure you can paste the whole link to get there.
>
>All the best,
>
>Andy
Thanks for the link. Only one that looks close is the common grackle,
but the count for those here is VERY low. I think I was too
hypnoticed to notice - and the fact that the event was something akin
to traveling through the "Time Tunnel".
 
elaine wrote:
> "Sheldon" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> >
> > TheAlligator wrote:
> > > Well, I rarely pay attention to birds, since there are so many
around
> > > here. I usually take time to observe the daily geese commute -
> > > there's a Hunting club nearby that keeps a large group of
> > > partly-domesticated ones. Every day at sunrise, they fly over my
> > > house to spend the day at a lake at the back of the property,
then
> > fly
> > > home around or shortly after sunset. And I occasionally notice
the
> > > odd mockingbird or two, since they're free entertainment. The
spring
> > > migration has apparently begun. Shortly after 6am, I had to make
a
> > > quick run down the road. I looked up and thought, "great, more
> > > thunderstorms rolling in". Wrong. It was an approaching CLOUD
of
> > > birds that I could not see either end of on the horizon, left to
> > > right. Anyway, I got home, and went out to feed 2 of the dogs.
Said
> > > bird cloud engulfed us all. Hundreds of thousands of them.
Never
> > > seen anything like it, at least not from this perspective.
Rather
> > > than go nuts, the dogs were completely frozen in time. In
contrast,
> > > the collie-shepherd mix is famous for snatching low-flying birds
out
> > > of mid-air and killing them. AT this point I figure, well I
haven't
> > > had my shower yet anyway, so I just stood there and waited for
the
> > > experience. The bottom layer was so low, and so close to us,
that
> > > they whipped up enough wind to make my hair stand straight up.
> > > Hundreds of them literally passed my head so close that if I had
> > > moved, they would have nailed me. Everyone should have this
> > > experience. Cool beyond belief.
> >
> > What were you drinking?
>
> Or smoking? Sounds like something out of Hitchcock's 'the Birds '
> movie...
>
> I wouldn't think Canada Geese though.
>
> Elaine

Nah, Canada Geese always fly in formation... and you'll generally hear
their honking before you see them... and they never fly low, because
Canada Geese can't soar except for the last bit of their decent upon
landing, and then they flap in reverse, they need to flap during their
entire flight, amazing considering the distances they migrate. When
Canada geese begin a decent to land they will land, they cannot reverse
direction once they are in decent mode... they cannot hover, flit, and
frolic about over your head. But Canada Geese are the absolute masters
of high altitude flight (they own the stratosphere), which is why
you'll rarely see them unless they are taking off or coming in... and
they are always seen in even numbers, when you see one alone it will
always be on the ground, it has lost it's mate and will not fly (or
eat) until it finds another... if it doesn't find another mate within a
few days it will wander off to a secluded place and die of starvation.
 
To God Be the Glory.
Amen brother your reward awaits.


--
Emil Luca

"TheAlligator" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> "Elisa" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> No, Sheldon, I swear to God. It was beyond belief, as your post
>>> attests. By the way, I can't drink. I'm in stage 4 of 4 -
>>> non-alcoholic advanced liver disease. Waiting for the reaper, don't
>>> you know.
>>
>>But, the liver regenerates itself. Isn't this possible in your case?
>>
>>Elisa (started to tell you a very sad story about losing my father last
>>October from acute liver failure brought on by a simple surgery, but
>>decided
>>that it seemed too insensitive)
>>
>>
> Hi, Elisa. No, it's not insensitive, and if you want to tell me the
> story, I'd be very happy to hear it. My father was almost never sick
> a day in his life and if he was, he just threw up out the car window
> and went to work. A mountain of a man - one I can never dream of
> emulating. Suddenly in 1987, his left eyelid started drooping. He
> went to St. Louis University Hospital to have some tests done. The
> night before was the last time I ever spoke to him before he spent 9
> days in a coma and died at 8 am the day after Christmas. I am not
> afraid of dying, Elisa. But everyday life is more than I care to deal
> with, sometimes. To answer your question - at my stage, regeneration
> is not possible and neither is a transplant. Back to ole' St. Louis
> University - I have become the love-child of one of their
> doctor-researchers - my condition is his particular object of
> interest, because it is extremely rare. Guess I should have bought a
> lottery ticket <G>. And, based on the very limited statistics of this,
> people with my condition seem to re-develop immediately after a
> transplant, if they even survive the operation. As a side note . . .
> right after I was finally diagnosed (they kept telling me I had the
> flu every 3 or 4 weeks for about 4 years) my favorite uncle died of
> liver cancer. And he told me, in person "it's not so bad, son - I can
> think of a whole lot worse ways to go". Understandably, this has been
> a real comfort to me. OK. I swore I would never post this, but I
> can't help it. Someone (a friend) gave me this link, and I have to
> tell you, it changed my life. No matter what you're going through,
> this will change your outlook. It takes about 6 or 7 minutes to watch
> and you need highspeed internet. I've only avoided posting it because
> of all the virulent God-haters I encounter. At this point in my life,
> to heck with them, so here goes. I got a phone call one Sunday
> morning from a friend who told me "Just do this",so I went to the
> mentioned website (www.farese.com) and sent him an email, ending with
> a note to please not bother to respond. Well, he did - and since he
> can't move a single muscle, there were various mis-spellings because
> it was all done by voice recognition. He doesn't give a **** about
> his own afflictions - he wrote me (by VR) a 4-page email trying to
> build me up. Quite a man, in my opinion. Go to:
> http://www.coralridge.org/BroadcastArchives.asp Click the calendar
> back to January 2005 and click on 1/23/05. No, I'm not Presbyterian
> (can't even spell it). And if it doesn't change your life, you're
> hopeless.
 
Sheldon wrote:

> Nah, Canada Geese always fly in formation... and you'll generally hear
> their honking before you see them...


Late at night when it's really quiet I can sometimes hear them high up above
in the sky even here in Chicago when they are migrating. It's pretty
neat...


>and they never fly low, because
> Canada Geese can't soar except for the last bit of their decent upon
> landing, and then they flap in reverse, they need to flap during their
> entire flight, amazing considering the distances they migrate. When
> Canada geese begin a decent to land they will land, they cannot reverse
> direction once they are in decent mode... they cannot hover, flit, and
> frolic about over your head. But Canada Geese are the absolute masters
> of high altitude flight (they own the stratosphere), which is why
> you'll rarely see them unless they are taking off or coming in... and
> they are always seen in even numbers, when you see one alone it will
> always be on the ground, it has lost it's mate and will not fly (or
> eat) until it finds another... if it doesn't find another mate within a
> few days it will wander off to a secluded place and die of starvation.
>


Sad and romantic, poor goose :-(

You got any unusual birds (and I mean of the *avian* variety, natch) up
there on yer property, Sheldon...???

--
Best
Greg
 
Gregory Morrow wrote:
> Sheldon wrote:
>
> > Nah, Canada Geese always fly in formation... and you'll generally
hear
> > their honking before you see them...
>
>
> Late at night when it's really quiet I can sometimes hear them high
up above
> in the sky even here in Chicago when they are migrating. It's pretty
> neat...
>
>
> >and they never fly low, because
> > Canada Geese can't soar except for the last bit of their decent
upon
> > landing, and then they flap in reverse, they need to flap during
their
> > entire flight, amazing considering the distances they migrate.
When
> > Canada geese begin a decent to land they will land, they cannot
reverse
> > direction once they are in decent mode... they cannot hover, flit,
and
> > frolic about over your head. But Canada Geese are the absolute
masters
> > of high altitude flight (they own the stratosphere), which is why
> > you'll rarely see them unless they are taking off or coming in...
and
> > they are always seen in even numbers, when you see one alone it
will
> > always be on the ground, it has lost it's mate and will not fly (or
> > eat) until it finds another... if it doesn't find another mate
within a
> > few days it will wander off to a secluded place and die of
starvation.
> >
>
>
> Sad and romantic, poor goose :-(
>
> You got any unusual birds (and I mean of the *avian* variety, natch)
up
> there on yer property, Sheldon...???
>
> --
> Best
> Greg

Quite a variety... have lots of Canada Geese here all summer (my 50 odd
gaggle should be arriving shortly). I feed the hummingbirds, they are
truly remarkable... even remind me to refill their feeder by taping on
my window. And there are all the usuals, blue jays and robins are
already appearing (gonna be an early spring) and all sorts of vicious
little woodpeckers make a racket around here. There are all sorts of
waterfowl; egrets, herons, cranes, storks. And all the raptors soaring
about... don't let your cat or small dog out. And then the owls are a
hoot. My murder of crows are here all winter, I feed them too,
arrogant big black pricks they are, but highly intelligent, I bet they
have higher IQs than 90% of RFCers. In fact this past Christmas I
bought myself three different copys of Sibleys new bird books,
including Bird Life & Behaviour. Got myself a high powered Nikon
spotting scope too... wish I had this beauty when I lived on Lung
Guyland, there are no windows to peep into here.
 
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