PDA

View Full Version : Birds are falling at my feet



wiltshire builders
06-05-11, 07:52 PM
The road between Upavon and Everleigh, just by Trenchard lines, was covered in dead rooks today. I don't mean 1 or 2 either, there must've been around 40. Anyone have any idea what might cause that?

Freaked me out a bit. :o

smellygerm
06-05-11, 07:57 PM
He's coming :o

Dabz
06-05-11, 07:58 PM
looks like we need to head west...

Green Man
06-05-11, 08:11 PM
I will go anywhere if the birds start falling at my feet ;D ;D

Nokesy
06-05-11, 08:14 PM
I will go anywhere if the birds start falling at my feet ;D ;D

Lmao! ;D

Basher
06-05-11, 08:18 PM
I will go anywhere if the birds start falling at my feet ;D ;D

;D ;D ;D

Mitch9128
06-05-11, 08:35 PM
Switch your deodorant?

Squashed_Fly
07-05-11, 09:16 AM
Anyone have any idea what might cause that?




Something in their water/food probably. If they were all dead in the same place, could be they all ate from the same food source together. The poison would take about the same time to affect them all so they would just fall out of the sky together.

However Stacy's theory is much cooler! ;D

@bj
07-05-11, 09:32 AM
Overhead powerlines..?

A lot of military activity in that area... shelling, helicopters, testing of new secret weapons... take your pick...

Taylor86
07-05-11, 10:46 AM
Went through Upavon the other day, and I had had a curry the night before... ::)

Nelly
07-05-11, 11:00 AM
Maybe they got struck by lightning??? :o

Taylor86
07-05-11, 11:05 AM
Maybe they got struck by lightning??? :o

That Thor has some wicked aim...

Geordie Stu
07-05-11, 12:23 PM
Heard of this before in other parts of the world.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/01/110106-birds-falling-from-sky-bird-deaths-arkansas-science/

Taylor86
07-05-11, 03:34 PM
So it could've been the thunder? Gold star for Nelly! :D

Squashed_Fly
07-05-11, 04:28 PM
I thought lightning can only affect you if you are earthed? Isn't that why birds can sit on power lines without being electrocuted?

Taylor86
07-05-11, 04:48 PM
It's not the lightning. Read the article... The loud noise causes them to fall then it's the impact with whatever they hit that kills them. Or that's how it read to me :D

Nelly
07-05-11, 06:41 PM
It's not the lightning. Read the article... The loud noise causes them to fall then it's the impact with whatever they hit that kills them. Or that's how it read to me :D

See? I', not as stoopid as i look! :D

smellygerm
07-05-11, 08:04 PM
He's here :o

Squashed_Fly
08-05-11, 08:53 AM
Well bugger me! Have read the article now... That's definately weird.

If it really is thunder, or loud noise, why don't we see scores of dead birds after storms and bonfire night?

I'm still with Stacy. He's definately en route if he's not already here..... [smiley=evil.gif]

Time to start behaving like an [smiley=engel017.gif] again! ;D

Taylor86
08-05-11, 01:17 PM
Well bugger me! Have read the article now... That's definately weird.

If it really is thunder, or loud noise, why don't we see scores of dead birds after storms and bonfire night?

I'm still with Stacy. He's definately en route if he's not already here..... [smiley=evil.gif]

Time to start behaving like an [smiley=engel017.gif] again! ;D

This is a pure guess, but possibly the proximity to the source of the noise? Also, most birds have migrated by the time bonfire night comes around... :P

Jon_W
08-05-11, 06:22 PM
It's the Lynx effect..... I seen them TV ads...

...falling from the sky they were!

Kevinb
09-05-11, 08:46 AM
Sounds like an interesting meal suggestion (pie). Who needs 4 & 20 blackbirds.

We surprised a pigeon when we came back from Weymouth. The bugger flew into my leg.

wiltshire builders
09-05-11, 05:19 PM
Mystery solved!

It turns out a bloke on a silver zx6r didn't agree with their beliefs and decided to drop a bomb on them and start again from scratch. ;D

Scotty
09-05-11, 05:28 PM
HAHAHAHAHA! ;D ;D ;D

Squashed_Fly
09-05-11, 05:34 PM
Mystery solved!

It turns out a bloke on a silver zx6r didn't agree with their beliefs and decided to drop a bomb on them and start again from scratch. ;D



;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

So, how long am I going to hear these jokes for? I guess proportionaly to how to stupid the comment was?

So quite a while yet then.....

Zephyr_Pete
09-05-11, 09:43 PM
I saw these as well, I work in the BAM hanger opposit trenchard lines. One was wondering around in the middle of the road dazed, not bothered by cars and refused to move, Guessing it was being run over that caused them all to die, but who knows what caused them to become so dopy in the first place, maybe some sort poison. I agree it was a pretty weird site, must have been at least 30 within a mile

Snowy
09-05-11, 10:04 PM
Could be down to poisoning from infected rabbits with Myxomatosis - its the right time of year for this to be prevalent.

@bj
09-05-11, 11:18 PM
Could be down to poisoning from infected rabbits with Myxomatosis - its the right time of year for this to be prevalent.

Please join the dots for me... Rabbits with Myxomatosis hopping around on the ground...

40 Crows drop out of the sky simultaniously...

Need more explaination of how that actually works... please...

I'll write it up - and when I get the nobel prize for something totally stage left - I'll be sure to give you a credit...

Snowy
10-05-11, 07:39 AM
Could be down to poisoning from infected rabbits with Myxomatosis - its the right time of year for this to be prevalent.

Please join the dots for me... Rabbits with Myxomatosis hopping around on the ground...

40 Crows drop out of the sky simultaniously...

Need more explaination of how that actually works... please...

I'll write it up - and when I get the nobel prize for something totally stage left - I'll be sure to give you a credit...


Poisened dead rabbits, eaten by crows = dead crows

Jon_W
10-05-11, 11:35 AM
Mystery solved!

It turns out a bloke on a silver zx6r didn't agree with their beliefs and decided to drop a bomb on them and start again from scratch. ;D



;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

So, how long am I going to hear these jokes for? I guess proportionaly to how to stupid the comment was?

So quite a while yet then.....

;D ;D ;D ;D

@bj
10-05-11, 12:30 PM
Could be down to poisoning from infected rabbits with Myxomatosis - its the right time of year for this to be prevalent.

Please join the dots for me... Rabbits with Myxomatosis hopping around on the ground...

40 Crows drop out of the sky simultaniously...

Need more explaination of how that actually works... please...

I'll write it up - and when I get the nobel prize for something totally stage left - I'll be sure to give you a credit...


Poisened dead rabbits, eaten by crows = dead crows

Hmmmm - still one or two dots left unjoined I feel...

Myxomatosis is not a poison - it's a virus.
Typically causes slow death in rabbits lasting @ 2 weeks - not known to affect crows.

Your hypothesis is that myxomatosis has now suddenly mutated into a super virus that that has now jumped species - and can now kill a whole bunch of crows in mid flight in the same instant..?

Maybe time to head for the hills before it jumps species again...

Snowy
10-05-11, 12:48 PM
Could be down to poisoning from infected rabbits with Myxomatosis - its the right time of year for this to be prevalent.

Please join the dots for me... Rabbits with Myxomatosis hopping around on the ground...

40 Crows drop out of the sky simultaniously...

Need more explaination of how that actually works... please...

I'll write it up - and when I get the nobel prize for something totally stage left - I'll be sure to give you a credit...


Poisened dead rabbits, eaten by crows = dead crows

Hmmmm - still one or two dots left unjoined I feel...

Myxomatosis is not a poison - it's a virus.
Typically causes slow death in rabbits lasting @ 2 weeks - not known to affect crows.

Your hypothesis is that myxomatosis has now suddenly mutated into a super virus that that has now jumped species - and can now kill a whole bunch of crows in mid flight in the same instant..?

Maybe time to head for the hills before it jumps species again...


To be honest, the thought only struck me for a millisecond and had not lost any brain cells in thinking it through. But, on a technicality, who mentioned these birds fell out of the sky all at the same time? We are considering a large quantity of crows found dead on the ground, there was no suggestion in the original posts that they fell out of the sky all together in a suicide pact;D

Chappers
10-05-11, 01:00 PM
To be honest, the thought only struck me for a millisecond and had not lost any brain cells in thinking it through. But, on a technicality, who mentioned these birds fell out of the sky all at the same time? We are considering a large quantity of crows found dead on the ground, there was no suggestion in the original posts that they fell out of the sky all together in a suicide pact;D


Maybe it was the Judean People's Front Crow Suicide Squad?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_12E1EN6fs

Rossio
10-05-11, 01:03 PM
Is it not possible mr farmer just shot them?? If your on a good flight line they'll just go right over you resulting in a load of crows or pidgeons in the same place or within short proximity, was it a maize or corn field they were by by any chance?

wiltshire builders
10-05-11, 01:08 PM
ROOKS! They're rooks not crows. I never mentioned crows at all. Rooks live in colonies and crows fly either solo or in pairs. What's wrong with you people. ;D

wiltshire builders
10-05-11, 01:10 PM
Is it not possible mr farmer just shot them?? If your on a good flight line they'll just go right over you resulting in a load of crows or pidgeons in the same place or within short proximity, was it a maize or corn field they were by by any chance?
I seriously doubt it. You start waving a shotgun around outside an Army camp you'll be spending your next holiday in Guantanamo bay!

Nelly
10-05-11, 01:22 PM
LOLOLOL Maybe they werent even dead! Did anybody stop and check for a pulse?
Maybe it was a ploy to fool the worms into thinking it was safe to come out?
Maybe it was just someone driving along the road throwing dead birds out of his/her car randomly to start a conspiracy theory?
;)

Scotty
10-05-11, 01:24 PM
I seriously doubt it. You start waving a shotgun around outside an Army camp you'll be spending your next holiday in Guantanamo bay!
... oh I don't know, if a bunch of asian lads can drive up from SE London and stand outside Sellafield with cameras and just claim that Satnav got them lost and get away with it.... ::)

On the ornithological side, Rooks are insectivores, not carrion eaters so poisoned rabbits wouldn't affect them - there'd be dead Carrion Crows, Buzzards and Red Kites (and foxes, dogs and cats) around if some f*ckwit farmer had been poisoning carcases on a large scale >:(

A colony of Rooks is known as a Rookery (engage smug mode) ;)

Nelly
10-05-11, 01:39 PM
"A colony of Rooks is known as a Rookery (engage smug mode)"

On the strength of the above statement...
Is a colony of cooks known as a cookery...?

@bj
10-05-11, 01:58 PM
...on a technicality, who mentioned these birds fell out of the sky all at the same time?


True.

So a bunch of crows kept circling the same piece of sky for a whole day - whilst one by one they dropped to the floor...

Of course - much more likely...

@bj
10-05-11, 02:01 PM
Sorry - rooks...

@bj
10-05-11, 02:03 PM
Bunch of Rooks...

Or a Wookerwe if you've got a lithsp...

wiltshire builders
10-05-11, 02:21 PM
LOLOLOL Maybe they werent even dead! Did anybody stop and check for a pulse?
;)
They were half an inch thick (12mm in acordance to EU law) and their insides were on the outside. Didn't think it was necessary.

Snowy
10-05-11, 02:22 PM
Maybe they were given a haircut by a passing Herc or Chinnook common in the area. That would be a Chinookery theory then... ;D ;D

Gerry
10-05-11, 04:01 PM
Whilst we are all showing off our love and knowledge of natural history, I can also report that Rook flesh is rather like pigeon, very dark and high in protein, not a bad food for young falcons, especially if your training them as Rook Hawks (watch out for ticks though).

Tastes similar to pigeon and not as strong as Coot or Moorhen - misspent youth with guns / hawks and not beer / cars (what was I thinking of) :-/

G :)

PS. I’m sure birds or other mammals can’t catch Myxomatosis.

PPS. I've seen lots of birds falling from the sky in my youth although usually shortly after hearing a sort of loud and mysterious bang ;)

Snowy
10-05-11, 05:01 PM
Whilst we are all showing off our love and knowledge of natural history, I can also report that Rook flesh is rather like pigeon, very dark and high in protein, not a bad food for young falcons, especially if your training them as Rook Hawks (watch out for ticks though).

Tastes similar to pigeon and not as strong as Coot or Moorhen - misspent youth with guns / hawks and not beer / cars (what was I thinking of) :-/

G :)

PS. I’m sure birds or other mammals can’t catch Myxomatosis.

PPS. I've seen lost of birds falling from the sky in my youth although usually shortly after hearing a sort of loud and mysterious bang ;)



Funny as Gerry ;D ;D

I wish I had not looked up the correct spelling for Myxy now :-[

However, the thought was instigated having nearly lost a Retriever which became very ill after she eat part of a dead rabbit - hence the connection in my mind. Should have referred to poisoned rabbits... :D

@bj
10-05-11, 09:47 PM
LOLOLOL Maybe they werent even dead! Did anybody stop and check for a pulse?
;)
They were half an inch thick (12mm in acordance to EU law) and their insides were on the outside. Didn't think it was necessary.

Hangon....

So - you didn't take a close look..?

How are you so sure they are rooks..?

wiltshire builders
10-05-11, 10:27 PM
Hangon....

So - you didn't take a close look..?

How are you so sure they are rooks..?

Coruvs frugilegus has a more pointed beak while Corvus corone corone has a more blunted one. Everyone knows that. I guess I can understand how some people might confuse them, but come on it's not that hard.

Taylor86
10-05-11, 11:35 PM
I've seen lots of birds falling from the sky in my youth although usually shortly after hearing a sort of loud and mysterious bang ;)


Mystery solved! Gerry rode past and opened the taps! Cue the rooks speedy descent from the skies... *splat* 8-)

@bj
10-05-11, 11:41 PM
Ok...

I expected a little better from you than just to regurgitate the first page that Google throws up when you enter the phrase "difference between rooks and crows"

So there's a beak difference...

Did you actually stop to confirm the beak difference - or did you keep moving - because - as you said - you were a bit freaked out...?

wiltshire builders
11-05-11, 07:43 AM
Uhhhhh.....yeah, I was trying to be funny. Obviously not though.

Jacde
11-05-11, 08:33 AM
Could they have been Ravens? There could be a secret breeding farm nearby to supply the Tower of London. These Ravens not realising they actually need all their wing feathers managed to escape, took flight and only got as far as the road where they ran out of flap and plummeted to the ground and an untimely death. :)

Jon_W
12-05-11, 10:30 AM
Could they have been Ravens? There could be a secret breeding farm nearby to supply the Tower of London. These Ravens not realising they actually need all their wing feathers managed to escape, took flight and only got as far as the road where they ran out of flap and plummeted to the ground and an untimely death. :)


Got my vote.... mysters sloved. ;D

@bj
12-05-11, 01:15 PM
Uhhhhh.....yeah, I was trying to be funny. Obviously not though.

I appreciate that - though Latin rarely works in a joke these days... demonstration coming up....

Q. Quis est commune inter mopeds et pinguis pullus?

R. Utriusque suscito ut veho, quod vos operor non volo vestri amicitia ut expiscor...

See... you'll have to trust me here - but 2,000 years ago - that would had been 'kin hilarious1...

[hr]
1. had mopeds been invented of course...

Squashed_Fly
12-05-11, 03:53 PM
[quote author=dan_geoghegan link=1304707944/50#50 date=1305096218]
Q. Quis est commune inter mopeds et pinguis pullus?

R. Utriusque suscito ut veho, quod vos operor non volo vestri amicitia ut expiscor...

.



;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Ahh, the old ones are the best!!!