View Full Version : More than 1,000 dead birds fall from sky in Ark.
incarcerated
01-02-2011, 04:12
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hR5yNrCf_J3vwK_xXRBmb56cfkEw?docId=fcb1e6568 b6742fe99a4e9cb318cda86
More than 1,000 dead birds fall from sky in Ark.
(AP) 3 hours ago
BEEBE, Ark. (AP) Wildlife officials are trying to determine what caused more than 1,000 black birds to die and fall from the sky over an Arkansas town.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said Saturday that it began receiving reports about the dead birds about 11:30 p.m. the previous night. The birds fell over a 1-mile area of Beebe, and an aerial survey indicated that no other dead birds were found outside of that area.
Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe said the he birds showed physical trauma, and she speculated that "the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail."
The commission said that New Year's Eve revelers shooting off fireworks in the area could have startled the birds from their roost and caused them to die from stress.
Robby King, a wildlife officer for the agency, collected about 65 dead birds, which will be sent for testing to the state Livestock and Poultry Commission lab and the National Wildlife Health Center lab in Madison, Wis.
Rowe said that similar events have occurred elsewhere and that test results "usually were inconclusive." She said she doubted the birds were poisoned.
greenberetTFS
01-02-2011, 06:22
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hR5yNrCf_J3vwK_xXRBmb56cfkEw?docId=fcb1e6568 b6742fe99a4e9cb318cda86
More than 1,000 dead birds fall from sky in Ark.
(AP) 3 hours ago
BEEBE, Ark. (AP) Wildlife officials are trying to determine what caused more than 1,000 black birds to die and fall from the sky over an Arkansas town.
The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said Saturday that it began receiving reports about the dead birds about 11:30 p.m. the previous night. The birds fell over a 1-mile area of Beebe, and an aerial survey indicated that no other dead birds were found outside of that area.
Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe said the he birds showed physical trauma, and she speculated that "the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail."
The commission said that New Year's Eve revelers shooting off fireworks in the area could have startled the birds from their roost and caused them to die from stress.
Robby King, a wildlife officer for the agency, collected about 65 dead birds, which will be sent for testing to the state Livestock and Poultry Commission lab and the National Wildlife Health Center lab in Madison, Wis.
Rowe said that similar events have occurred elsewhere and that test results "usually were inconclusive." She said she doubted the birds were poisoned.
Sounds pretty "eerie" to me...................:eek::eek::eek:
Big Teddy :munchin
Sounds like Bubba and his friends had a little tooo much New Year cheer and the went out with a lot of 12 guages and got rid of those pesky things........
Sounds like Bubba and his friends had a little tooo much New Year cheer and the went out with a lot of 12 guages and got rid of those pesky things........
Prolly beebe guns.
Prolly beebe guns.
Haha! Good one. :)
Creepy! Everytime I see a large grouping of birds...I think of The Birds. :eek:
didn't they just have a Tornado etc and mucho extreme weather or they all ate at the wrong greasy spoon
didn't they just have a Tornado etc and mucho extreme weather or they all ate at the wrong greasy spoon
We've had some extreme weather up here. I'm about an hour from the site of the tornado, and about 3 from the bird kill.
"Weather Underground Huntsville Arkansas" reported (-)11 degrees this AM, and the tornado came at an unusual time. I'd assume the bird kill was weather related, as well.
incarcerated
01-03-2011, 10:59
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40885546/ns/us_news-environment/
....BEEBE, Ark. The number of birds that fell on this Arkansas town on New Year's Eve night is now estimated at 4,000 to 5,000, a wildlife official told msnbc.com, up sharply from the initial estimate of 1,000.
Keith Stephens, a spokesman for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, provided the new numbers, adding that 65 carcasses of the red-winged blackbirds had been collected and were being tested to determine the cause of death.
"We may have something today" on the cause, he said....
Guess the birds can't see UFO's eather
Now it's the fish...
http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=136401&catid=2
Northwest Arkansas turned up dead. They were found along a 20-mile stretch between the Ozark Dam and Highway 109 Bridge in Franklin County.
The 20-mile stretch along the Arkansas River where an estimated 100,000 drum fish were found washed ashore and floating looks much different now.
Keith Stephens with Game and Fish explains, "We got a call last week from a tug boat operator that found the fish out on the river along the bank, in the river channel and we immediately dispatched somebody to the area to take a look."
Investigators from local and state agencies took samples from the affected area. Stephens says fish kills occur every year, but the magnitude of this one is unusual, and disease could be the cause.
A pollutant would have affected cross species. Stephens says, "Ninety-nine percent of them were Drum, which is a bottom feeder. It's not a game fish in Arkansas."
Some fish collected were alive and visibly sick. They have been taken to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff for testing.
The affected area was never closed and fishing is encouraged. "Right now it's fine to fish. If you go out there you can still fish for bass and crappie, catfish, it will be fine. Obviously don't' eat the dead fish."
As for clean up, nature is taking its course. "We'll have raccoon and birds and things like that will take care of it so there is really no clean up, it's really too big. It's contained along the river channel."
Officials expect to have an exact estimate on how many fish died by Monday. They will release the test results as soon as they get them.
The Arkansas Game & Fish Commission is also investigating thousands of dead birds in Beebe. Click here for that story.
Masochist
01-03-2011, 11:28
Wonder if fracking and the water disposal process could have a hand in things. :confused: :munchin
Well...it is Arkansas...an odd place of 3 million people with 6 family names where the unexplainable is commonplace....such as people voluntarily wearing large plastic hats shaped like sprinting hogs while scaring the hell out of everyone and everything nearby by running around with breath you don't want to light a match near and yelling "Sooooo...eeeeeeeee!" at the top of their lungs in some sort of frenzied Saturday ritual that strangely seems to have a romantic effect on the women who live there on turkey farms and reside in communities of double-wide manufactured housing sitting on concrete blocks. :rolleyes:
But you can also play news reporter or politician running for reelection and just blame it on Obama, Bush, or Clinton - your pick. ;)
Richard :munchin
Dozer523
01-03-2011, 17:32
Well...it is Arkansas...an odd place where the unexplainable is commonplace....
I want to believe, Scully.
Preliminary necropsies on the dead birds by the state Livestock and Poultry Commission "showed trauma," said Karen Rowe, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission ornithologist. "The birds obviously hit something very hard and had hemorrhages." Beyond that, all the birds were healthy.
Weather cannot be ruled out according to the article.
Snaquebite
01-03-2011, 21:04
Preliminary necropsies on the dead birds by the state Livestock and Poultry Commission "showed trauma,"
This kind of made me laugh.... I'm sure there was lots of "trauma" when they hit theground.
Preliminary necropsies on the dead birds by the state Livestock and Poultry Commission "showed trauma," said Karen Rowe, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission ornithologist. "The birds obviously hit something very hard and had hemorrhages." Beyond that, all the birds were healthy.
Weather cannot be ruled out according to the article.
The hit the ground....... There is the Trama.......;)
Wonder if fracking and the water disposal process could have a hand in things. :confused: :munchin
Possible but it would take a considerable amount of to cause this kind of environmental damage (I used to roughneck in NW Arkansas.) The EPA and State were all over our frack tanks with inspections. Fricken frack!!!
Plus it doesn't address the species...why not a widespread kill?
What is Fracking? (http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/whats-fracking)
Possible but it would take a considerable amount of to cause this kind of environmental damage (I used to roughneck in NW Arkansas.) The EPA and State were all over our frack tanks with inspections. Fricken frack!!!
Plus it doesn't address the species...why not a widespread kill?
What is Fracking? (http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/whats-fracking)
Maybe they were the only ones dumb enough to try and fly through a tornado:)
The hit the ground....... There is the Trama.......;)
:D
Evidently some sort of autopsy was done on some of the birds, they determined the trauma occurred before they hit the ground.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110103/ts_yblog_thelookout/massive-bird-fish-kills-in-arkansas-leave-many-scratching-heads
UPDATE: A state veterinarian tells NBC that preliminary necropsy results from several birds show that they died of "multiple blunt trauma to their vital organs," though what caused the trauma remains uncertain. According to Dr. George Badley, their stomachs were empty, so they weren't poisoned, and they died in midair, not upon impact with the ground.
And now, more dead birds in the state of LA :eek:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/another-large-bird-kill-reported-this-time-in-louisiana
Well...it is Arkansas...an odd place of 3 million people with 6 family names where the unexplainable is commonplace....such as people voluntarily wearing large plastic hats shaped like sprinting hogs while scaring the hell out of everyone and everything nearby by running around with breath you don't want to light a match near and yelling "Sooooo...eeeeeeeee!" at the top of their lungs in some sort of frenzied Saturday ritual that strangely seems to have a romantic effect on the women who live there on turkey farms and reside in communities of double-wide manufactured housing sitting on concrete blocks. :rolleyes:
Richard :munchin
:D
You guys just keep thinkin' that way and stay the fuck out.
You know, it appears these Arkansas birds and the Louisiana birds croaked at the same meridian (91 degree).
I wonder if HAARP has anything to do with this?:confused:
dr. mabuse
01-04-2011, 20:13
*
Were these birds involved in any way with the Clinton family?:munchin
Mysterious deaths+ Clinton ties, who knows?
Very wise...very wise indeed!
incarcerated
01-04-2011, 23:24
I have several theories about this
http://www.professionalsoldiers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=17230&d=1291389244
http://themoderatevoice.com/wordpress-engine/files/2008-november/hillary_clinton.jpg
http://carbolicsmoke.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/alfred-hitchcock.jpg
I wouldn't rule out fowl play. :D
I wouldn't rule out fowl play. :D
Got me... I chuckled :D
Slantwire
01-05-2011, 08:40
they determined the trauma occurred before they hit the ground.
I hear the Chinese were having a real good test of their new stealth fighter (http://professionalsoldiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31811) before the birds got in the way.
everyone knows that this President inherited the dead bird problem from the previous administration.
Truckie117
01-05-2011, 13:35
I heard "BIG SIS" will be making a trip down there to shore up the security. :eek:
You know, it appears these Arkansas birds and the Louisiana birds croaked at the same meridian (91 degree).
I wonder if HAARP has anything to do with this?:confused:
Wonder if any hams in the area noticed unusual interference.
As Governor Mike Bebe told reporters today, "Sooooo...eeeeeee!!!!"** :rolleyes:
Richard :munchin
** Translation: "Thank gawd DHS was able to prevent what was obviously an al-Quaeda planned aerial attack on one of our most revered national financial institutions - WalMart."
As Governor Mike Bebe told reporters today, "Sooooo...eeeeeee!!!!"** :rolleyes:
Richard :munchin
** Translation: "Thank gawd DHS was able to prevent what was obviously an al-Quaeda planned aerial attack on one of our most revered national financial institutions - WalMart."
:D
LMAO!
Biologists see no indication that water quality or pollution played a role in death of 2 million spot fish
Experts (www.baltimoresun.com/sports/outdoors/bs-sp-bay-fish-kill0106-20110105,0,6662746.story) say cold weather likely cause of fish kill
By Candus Thomson, The Baltimore Sun
5:09 PM EST, January 5, 2011
It could be two weeks before state officials know for certain what killed an estimated 2 million fish in the Chesapeake Bay.
Or, they may never find out the exact cause.
Biologists with the Maryland Department of the Environment sent tissue samples from the fish, mostly juvenile spot 3- to 6-inches long, to state labs to pinpoint the reason they died. But for now, they believe a rapid drop in temperature in December caused cold-water stress, said MDE spokeswoman Dawn Stoltzfus.
Stoltzfus said there are no indications that water quality or pollution contributed to the kill, but the tissue samples will be analyzed for contaminants. Samples also will be sent to the Department of Natural Resources for bacteria analysis.
However, she cautioned that "most, if not all, of the fish may be too decomposed to expect meaningful results."
The bay's surface water temperature late last month 32.9 degrees--was the coldest in 25 years, according to state records. Historical lows were recorded at 13 locations on the bay, from the mouth of the Elk River to Rock Hall and Kent Island to Point Lookout. Spot have little tolerance for temperatures below 35.6 degrees.
The first fish kill report came last Wednesday from Calvert County, near the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant. MDE then received calls from Annapolis, Sandy Point State Park, Poplar Island south of Kent Island, the Honga River in Dorchester County and Tangier Sound. Contrary to earlier reports, the dead fish did not include menhaden but did include some croaker, a member of the same fish family.
Stoltzfus said no new reports have come in. MDE has a toll-free number to report dead fish: 1-866-MDE-GOTO.
While summer fish kills have become a regular occurrence, winter-related kills happen less frequently. Twenty million spot died in 1976 and again in 1980, said Rudy Lukacovic, DNR's fish kill investigator for 23 years. Both of those kills ranged from Baltimore Harbor to Solomons.
"I remember being in a boat off Kent Island and looking up the bay and seeing what I thought was an ice flow moving toward me. It was a raft of thousands and thousands of dead fish," he said of the 1980 incident.
In all cases, Lukacovic said the most likely cause of death was super-chilled water reducing the effectiveness of the gill cell membranes to regulate the salt intake of the fish. Salt enters the fish at toxic levels and they die of dehydration.
In addition, he said, strong winds that pummeled the state during the last week of the year pushed ice-cold surface water down to where the fish were taking refuge.
Spot are a popular target for recreational anglers, especially youngsters, who fish from piers and bulkheads. Anglers catch spot and use them as live bait to entice striped bass. Paying customers on boats out of Kent Island and Tangier target big spot, called "slabs."
"They are a valuable fish, a family friendly fish that can be caught by anyone," said Martin Gary, a DNR fisheries biologist.
They get their name from the dark spot above and behind the gills. They are bottom feeders and grow to be about 14 inches. The fish mature at around 2 years and leave the bay each fall to spawn offshore, but some juvenile fish stay behind and winter in deeper waters. Larval spot enter the bay over the winter and move into creeks and tributaries in April and May.
The kill is not likely to upset the balance of nature. DNR's 2010 survey of the spot population showed the fourth-largest juvenile class in 33 years.
"It may not be a mega-class, but it's a pretty significant one," Gary said. "It's a prodigious species, built to produce a lot of fish. I can't imagine this kill would put a dent in them."
candy.thomson@baltsun.com
"All is well...remain calm!!!" - a young Kevin Bacon in Animal House
From Yahoo (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110105/ap_on_re_eu/eu_sweden_dead_birds)
STOCKHOLM Officials say about 50 birds have been found dead on a street in Sweden.
Veterinarian Robert ter Horst says the cause of jackdaws' deaths was unclear but that fireworks were set off near the scene Tuesday night.
The birds were found dead on Wednesday.
Ter Horst says cold weather, difficulties finding food and possible shock from the fireworks could be responsible, leading to the stressed birds either dying from the stress or being run over by vehicles.
Five of the dead jackdaws found in the city of Falkoping were being tested.
Mass bird deaths aren't uncommon.
In the U.S., New Year's Eve fireworks were blamed in Arkansas for killing thousands of blackbirds, and a few days later power lines likely killed about 450 birds in Louisiana.
Wonder if any hams in the area noticed unusual interference.
My Roomie here at school is from the area. She told me there is a nuclear site in the AO, and coupled with the specific fish that turned up dead on the banks, it sounded like to the locals that a gas cloud was released....Hmmmmmmmmm.
Weird though...very, very weird.
Holly:munchin
My Roomie here at school is from the area. She told me there is a nuclear site in the AO, and coupled with the specific fish that turned up dead on the banks, it sounded like to the locals that a gas cloud was released....Hmmmmmmmmm.
Weird though...very, very weird.
Musta been those land roaming catfish out for a stroll. :rolleyes:
Richard :munchin
Google maps have made it easy to plot (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=201817256339889828327.0004991bca25af104a22b) the "devastation".
That's a lotta cattle to die overnight...http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/01/17/chinas-president-calls-based-currency-product-past/
The 200 dead cattle were discovered on a farm field on 4th street in Amherst. Today, the bodies were taken out in semi-loads to be disposed of.
The Portage County Sheriff's Department says the animals died of a virus that causes respiratory and reproductive problems.
The owner has been working with a veterinarian, who couldn't be reached for comment today. Samples from the dead animals have been sent to Madison for testing.
Investigators say there is no threat to people or other animals. The Portage County Humane Society is investigating the cow deaths.
greenberetTFS
01-17-2011, 08:31
As Governor Mike Bebe told reporters today, "Sooooo...eeeeeee!!!!"** :rolleyes:
Richard :munchin
** Translation: "Thank gawd DHS was able to prevent what was obviously an al-Quaeda planned aerial attack on one of our most revered national financial institutions - WalMart."
Now that was funny,very,very funny...............;)
Big Teddy :munchin
That's a lotta cattle to die overnight...http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/01/17/chinas-president-calls-based-currency-product-past/
What cattle? :confused: :confused:
Richard :munchin
What cattle? :confused: :confused:
Richard :munchin
Excellent question:
http://www.wsaw.com/home/headlines/200_Cows_Die_in_Portage_County_113829069.html
Aflockalypse Now - anybody seen COL Kurtz lately?
One in a series of mysterious mass bird deaths in the past month was the product of a USDA avicide program, which began as operation Bye Bye Blackbird in the 1960s.
And so it goes...
Richard :munchin
Bye Bye Blackbird: USDA Acknowledges A Hand In One Mass Bird Death
CSM, 20 Jan 2011
It's not the "aflockalyptic" fallout from a secret US weapon lab as some have theorized. But the government acknowledged Thursday that it had a hand in one of a string of mysterious mass bird deaths that have spooked residents in Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, South Dakota, and Kentucky in the last month.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) took responsibility for hundreds of dead starlings that were found on the ground and frozen in trees in a Yankton, S.D., park on Monday.
The USDA's Wildlife Services Program, which contracts with farmers for bird control, said it used an avicide poison called DRC-1339 to cull a roost of 5,000 birds that were defecating on a farmer's cattle feed across the state line in Nebraska. But officials said the agency had nothing to do with large and dense recent bird kills in Arkansas and Louisiana.
Nevertheless, the USDA's role in the South Dakota bird deaths puts a focus on a little-known government bird-control program that began in the 1960s under the name of Bye Bye Blackbird, which eventually became part of the USDA and was housed in the late '60s at a NASA facility. In 2009, USDA agents euthanized more than 4 million red-winged blackbirds, starlings, cowbirds, and grackles, primarily using pesticides that the government says are not harmful to pets or humans.
In addition to the USDA program, a so-called depredation order from the US Fish and Wildlife Service allows blackbirds, grackles, and starlings to be killed by anyone who says they pose health risks or cause economic damage. Though a permit is needed in some instances, the order is largely intended to cut through red tape for farmers, who often employ private contractors to kill the birds and do not need to report their bird culls to any authority.
"Every winter, there's massive and purposeful kills of these blackbirds," says Greg Butcher, the bird conservation director at the National Audubon Society. "These guys are professionals, and they don't want to advertise their work. They like to work fast, efficiently, and out of sight."
"Back off, man. We're scientists!" :rolleyes:
Bird Kills Turning Too Zealous?
The depredation order, however, is under review for its impact on the rare rusty blackbird, which roosts with more common species. Ornithologists also suspect that the mass killings may be a factor in declining populations of those species in the US.
While the USDA keeps tabs on the number of birds the program euthanizes, the total death toll isn't known because private contractors operating under the depredation order aren't required to keep count in the case of blackbirds, cowbirds, grackles, and starlings.
"My biggest concern is we don't know how many birds are being killed, and we don't have a sense of how at risk the rusty blackbird is because of depredation events in their range," says Mr. Butcher.
Yankton animal control officer Lisa Brasel told KTIV-TV that she first believed a cold snap had killed some 200 European starlings that were found dead in Riverside Park, reminding some residents of the final scenes of Alfred Hitchcock's thriller, "The Birds."
But then she said she received a call from a USDA official who said the agency had poisoned a roost of starlings 10 miles south of Yankton. Usually such poisonings result in flocks falling directly out of their tree roosts. But in this case, the birds traveled a fair distance before falling. "They were surprised they came to Yankton like they did and died in our park," said Brasel, according to KTIV-TV.
How Birds Plague Farmers
Carol Bannerman, a Wildlife Services spokeswoman, said such kills are carried out at the request of farmers who can prove the birds are a nuisance. The farmers also help pay the cost, according to the agency.
One example of nuisance birds are European starlings, a non-native species, at US dairies, where a flock of 5,000 can eat 200 pounds of feed a day while soiling equipment and dairy cows.
"It's not that we have anything against starlings, but our charge is to help protect agriculture ... and protect property and human health or safety," she says. "And the fact is, in a lot of rural settings, people say, 'It's just birds, what's the problem?' "
Ms. Bannerman added, however, that the agency takes care to notify local public-health and law-enforcement agencies before a scheduled kill, and noted "what went on in Louisiana and Arkansas, that was totally outside of what we're doing. We're quite concerned that people not connect those."
Two mass bird deaths in north Alabama this week are being investigated, with specimens being tested for toxicity. Two other mass bird deaths in Gilbertville and Murray, Ky., earlier this month were not linked to poison, but could have been caused by unseasonably cold weather. The most widely reported recent mass bird deaths in Louisiana and Arkansas have been tied to birds en masse flying into buildings and power lines.
Rogue Fireworks In Arkansas
In Arkansas, state ornithologist Karen Rowe has reviewed ground radar records that show a 20,000-plus bird roost taking flight at approximately 10:15 p.m. on New Year's Eve, 15 minutes after a series of large booms shook the windows of houses in a nearby subdivision.
This has caused state wildlife officials to pin the blame on a resident who may have gotten a hold of professional-grade fireworks. The dead birds were likely animals that were trying to land in the dark and hit some kind of object after being drawn toward the artificial light of the neighborhood.
"So far, no one has confessed to letting off the fireworks, but the question remains if anyone would admit to it," says Ms. Rowe. They needn't fear retribution. Despite the number of birds that died, no laws were broken.
Some 5 billion birds die every year across the US, most largely unnoticed. Mass deaths are not uncommon. The US Geological Service's website listed about 90 mass deaths of birds and other wildlife in the last six months of 2010.
"Whether people are noticing it more and pointing it out more this year than in the past, is something that I'd be thinking about," says Bannerman at the USDA.
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2011/0120/Bye-Bye-Blackbird-USDA-acknowledges-a-hand-in-one-mass-bird-death
Buffalobob
01-23-2011, 14:44
Funny thing happened in DC.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-breaking-news/dc/name-the-library-of-congress-h.html
Apparently the Coopers hawk is a bigger attraction than the documents.
219seminole
01-23-2011, 16:23
At Ft Campbell during the winter of 1975 there was a kill-off of birds. If I remember correctly, there were so many birds they were messing up the helicopters. Some sort of soapy solution was sprayed on them and they froze to death. Dead birds everywhere...and they didn't smell good. Don't know who got the detail policing them up, but it wasn't 2/327, which was a small and rare favor to a bunch of 11Bs.