Ive heard people ask, or ask me directly "is it cold outside?" and my general response is "its January in Minnesota.... duh its cold."
This morning (Jan 21 2011) I woke up around 8:45, looked out my window at the big thermometer we have hanging on the shed and it was somewhere around -19F. All i could say was "Holly *$%&". Granted last night (around 11PM) went i left work the digital time/thermometer screen at the place next door said it was -13 (when i got near my house the shorview community center sign said -9) so -19 wasent a huge change. But yeah. Its cold. 3 or so ft on the ground has made it difficult to go out and take walks, animals havent been roaming as much, and the cold makes it difficult to take the digital camera out and about as well. Plus been busy working.
Sso i'll just end there with my excuses for not posting more. I have some pictures (i hope they arent all blurry/out of focus) on the cam but havent taken the time to upload them.
Sorry? *shrugs* I just hope that I will even have time to garden this summer or i mean even get a tan.
Also I heard either today or yesterday that Lily the Blackbear is persumably with cub(s) should give today. And as i write this and googled/checked the website gave birth to 2 cubs today! so thats pretty neat!
http://www.bear.org/livecams/lily-hope-cam.html
Friday, January 21, 2011
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Continued thoughts on recent Red-wing Blackbird deaths
I have been thinking more about the recent deaths of Red-Wing Blackbirds in Arkansas and Lousiana, and possibly more found in Kentucky.
The news of the day has focused on fireworks celebrations causeing the birds to become frightened, take flight in the dark and due to their bad eyesight collide mid air into eachother during the panic. This is also a hard to believe explanation considering the amount of firework celebrations that occur around the world every year. If fireworks were enough to cause a flock of birds to wake up and go into a panic mass deaths of birds would be more common. Granted it could be that somehow reports of events were never reported in the past.
I decided to look into what ways blackbird flocks have been known to be controlled and something stands out to me. The use of a chemical called Avitrol. On their website its explained its a chemical frightening agent added to bait grains.
So what if the cause of the Red-wing blackbird deaths in arkansas was a large scale use of the Avitrol baits? It seems like a more plausible explanation for the huge number of birds in a small area. I am unsure of any exact laws on hwo many blackbirds can be intentionally killed using the chemical or any other flock control measures at any given time. But if there are restrictions then coinciding an intentional mass kill with something like fireworks, strong storms and the like would at least throw some uncertainity about what the actual cause could have been.
There are also other methods for frightening the birds:
So quite possibly it could have been a combination of techniques, coinciding with fireworks and luckily strong storms to aid to the confusion.
Some birds have been taken to Madison, WI for testing and we wont have an answer for a few days or so.
I am not trying to reinforce the idea of some mass government cover up. I think it is more likely a small scale local cover up of the excessive use of control measures for a flock of birds.
I haven't had time to figure out any connection to the fish kill that was also in Beebe in the last week. It may be a coincidence or something more troubling.
The news of the day has focused on fireworks celebrations causeing the birds to become frightened, take flight in the dark and due to their bad eyesight collide mid air into eachother during the panic. This is also a hard to believe explanation considering the amount of firework celebrations that occur around the world every year. If fireworks were enough to cause a flock of birds to wake up and go into a panic mass deaths of birds would be more common. Granted it could be that somehow reports of events were never reported in the past.
I decided to look into what ways blackbird flocks have been known to be controlled and something stands out to me. The use of a chemical called Avitrol. On their website its explained its a chemical frightening agent added to bait grains.
"The active ingredient in Avitrol baits, 4-aminopyridine, is an acute oral toxicant which acts on the central nervous system and the motor nervous system. Its action on the motor nervous system usually causes behaviors characteristic of those seen in an epileptic seizure. Birds eating the treated bait will be affected in a manner that, varying by species, will artificially cause them to emit distress and alarm cries and visual displays used by their species when they are frightened or injured. This may include flying erratically, vocalizing, trembling, dilation of the pupils and other symptoms indicative of loss of motor control. This will frighten the flock and cause it to leave the site. In laboratory testing, if the dose is lethal, death will usually occur within an hour following administration. If the dose is sub-lethal, there will be a recovery period which may be as short as 4 to 5 hours. Surviving birds have no lasting effects from 4-aminopyridine. "
"By limiting the amount of bait available to relatively few birds, the remainder of the flock can be frightened away from most sites with a minimum of mortality."SOURCE: http://www.avitrol.com/about.php
So what if the cause of the Red-wing blackbird deaths in arkansas was a large scale use of the Avitrol baits? It seems like a more plausible explanation for the huge number of birds in a small area. I am unsure of any exact laws on hwo many blackbirds can be intentionally killed using the chemical or any other flock control measures at any given time. But if there are restrictions then coinciding an intentional mass kill with something like fireworks, strong storms and the like would at least throw some uncertainity about what the actual cause could have been.
There are also other methods for frightening the birds:
"Devices need to be employed especially in the early morning and in late afternoon when the birds are most actively feeding. Crops such as sweet corn, which are vulnerable to blackbirds for only a few days before harvest, may not be too difficult to protect; however, the task becomes more formidable for crops such as sunflower and sorghum, which may be vulnerable for up to six weeks. Propane exploders (some with timers that automatically turn them on and off each day) are the most popular frightening devices. In general, use at least one exploder for every 10 acres (4 ha) of crop to be protected. Elevate exploders on a barrel, stand, or truck bed to “shoot” over the crop, and move them around the field every few days."
"A variety of other bird-frightening devices, including electronic noise systems, helium-filled balloons tethered in fields, radio-controlled model planes, reflecting tapes made of mylar (Fig. 5), tape-recorded distress calls for birds, and various types of scarecrows, are also occasionally used to rid fields of blackbirds. The effectiveness of these devices is highly variable, depending on the persistence of the operator, the skill used in employing a device, the attractiveness of the crop, the number of birds, and the availability of alternate feeding sites. As mentioned with regard to propane exploders, birds tend to adjust or adapt to frightening devices. It is usually best to use two or more devices than to rely on a single device."
http://icwdm.org/handbook/birds/Blackbirds.asp(the same info seems to be located at http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/blkbird/control.htm )
So quite possibly it could have been a combination of techniques, coinciding with fireworks and luckily strong storms to aid to the confusion.
Some birds have been taken to Madison, WI for testing and we wont have an answer for a few days or so.
I am not trying to reinforce the idea of some mass government cover up. I think it is more likely a small scale local cover up of the excessive use of control measures for a flock of birds.
I haven't had time to figure out any connection to the fish kill that was also in Beebe in the last week. It may be a coincidence or something more troubling.
Recent mass deaths of Red-Winged Black Birds
There has been some interest in what may have caused the death of thousands of Red-Winged Black Birds near Beebe Arkansas on New Years Eve. Most articles point to death by lightening or hail which seemed plausible since there were strong storms in the area that day.
What I find most interesting is that the first or close to first comment posts on many of the articles * feature people claiming that the congregation of Red-Winged Black Birds is unusual. And some claim to have degrees in a related field to give them some credibility.
My main source of North American bird info comes from my copy of The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds Eastern Region, published in 1977.
pg 442 , continued description for Red-Winged Black Bird " Although primarily a marsh bird, the Red-wing will nest near virtually any body of water and occasionally breeds in upland pastures. Each Pair raises two or three broods a season, building a new nest for each clutch. After breeding season, the birds gather with other blackbirds in flocks sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands or millions and have come to be viewed as a health hazard. Attempts have been made to reduce such flocks by spraying and other methods."
and as is stated at the Cornell All About Birds Lab website
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/id
The birds congregating is quite normal.
So the real question remains what caused this?
So far the only some what plausible answer is on the Capital Weather Gang blog at the Washington Post.
post at the 7:30pm update
"The director of Cornell University's ornithology lab in Ithaca, N.Y., said the most likely suspect is violent weather. It's probable that thousands of birds were asleep, roosting in a single tree, when a "washing machine-type thunderstorm" sucked them up into the air, disoriented them, and even fatally soaked and chilled them."
and then the
9:30 p.m. update: The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is reporting (h/t commenter JerryFloyd) the birds likely died as a result of booming noise, perhaps fireworks, in central Arkansas Friday. The noise may have incited a bird frenzy causing them to fly into houses and trees. The WSJ story states storms weren't in the area when the birds died. On the other hand, the radar shows storms departing the region between 9 and 10 p.m. central time. The birds reportedly started falling from the sky around 11 p.m.
source: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweathergang/2011/01/did_lightning_cause_mass_bird.html
So I would agree some sort of updraft/down draft would be an acceptable answer. It is just troubling that most news agencies are not reporting this and it makes room for some kind of giant conspiracy at hand.
I cant rule out some sort of conspiracy, whether it being intentionally killing of the birds via some sort of man made contraption using focused waves thus causing the loud noise accompanied with the incident, or just shooting them but covering it up.
The point is, don't trust all that is read on-line, especially when it comes down to so called "credible sources" making public comments on the news article.
I hope we find out what really caused this. And I hope that it is in fact some bizarre case of weather.
But it seems coincidental that there was another case of Red-Wing Black Bird deaths in Labarre, Louisiana.
So maybe it was all caused by the rogue zombie satellite that just so happen to come back to life in the past week after a few weeks back interfering with NOAA's weather satellite. seems a little too coincidental...... *wink wink*
*http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/03/arkansas.falling.birds/index.html?hpt=T2
UPDATE: I was also just informed about a massive fish kill that occurred near Beebe Arkansas as well. seems too coincidental.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/02/arkansas.fish.kill/index.html?hpt=T2
What I find most interesting is that the first or close to first comment posts on many of the articles * feature people claiming that the congregation of Red-Winged Black Birds is unusual. And some claim to have degrees in a related field to give them some credibility.
My main source of North American bird info comes from my copy of The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Birds Eastern Region, published in 1977.
pg 442 , continued description for Red-Winged Black Bird " Although primarily a marsh bird, the Red-wing will nest near virtually any body of water and occasionally breeds in upland pastures. Each Pair raises two or three broods a season, building a new nest for each clutch. After breeding season, the birds gather with other blackbirds in flocks sometimes numbering in the hundreds of thousands or millions and have come to be viewed as a health hazard. Attempts have been made to reduce such flocks by spraying and other methods."
and as is stated at the Cornell All About Birds Lab website
-
Behavior
Male Red-winged Blackbirds do everything they can to get noticed, sitting on high perches and belting out their conk-la-ree! song all day long. Females stay lower, skulking through vegetation for food and quietly weaving together their remarkable nests. In winter Red-winged Blackbirds gather in huge flocks to eat grains with other blackbird species and starlings.
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/id
The birds congregating is quite normal.
So the real question remains what caused this?
So far the only some what plausible answer is on the Capital Weather Gang blog at the Washington Post.
post at the 7:30pm update
"The director of Cornell University's ornithology lab in Ithaca, N.Y., said the most likely suspect is violent weather. It's probable that thousands of birds were asleep, roosting in a single tree, when a "washing machine-type thunderstorm" sucked them up into the air, disoriented them, and even fatally soaked and chilled them."
and then the
9:30 p.m. update: The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is reporting (h/t commenter JerryFloyd) the birds likely died as a result of booming noise, perhaps fireworks, in central Arkansas Friday. The noise may have incited a bird frenzy causing them to fly into houses and trees. The WSJ story states storms weren't in the area when the birds died. On the other hand, the radar shows storms departing the region between 9 and 10 p.m. central time. The birds reportedly started falling from the sky around 11 p.m.
source: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/capitalweathergang/2011/01/did_lightning_cause_mass_bird.html
So I would agree some sort of updraft/down draft would be an acceptable answer. It is just troubling that most news agencies are not reporting this and it makes room for some kind of giant conspiracy at hand.
I cant rule out some sort of conspiracy, whether it being intentionally killing of the birds via some sort of man made contraption using focused waves thus causing the loud noise accompanied with the incident, or just shooting them but covering it up.
The point is, don't trust all that is read on-line, especially when it comes down to so called "credible sources" making public comments on the news article.
I hope we find out what really caused this. And I hope that it is in fact some bizarre case of weather.
But it seems coincidental that there was another case of Red-Wing Black Bird deaths in Labarre, Louisiana.
So maybe it was all caused by the rogue zombie satellite that just so happen to come back to life in the past week after a few weeks back interfering with NOAA's weather satellite. seems a little too coincidental...... *wink wink*
*http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/03/arkansas.falling.birds/index.html?hpt=T2
UPDATE: I was also just informed about a massive fish kill that occurred near Beebe Arkansas as well. seems too coincidental.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/02/arkansas.fish.kill/index.html?hpt=T2
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