Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!uupsi!sunic!news.funet.fi!ra!misan From: misan@ra.abo.fi (Annika Forsten DC) Newsgroups: rec.birds Subject: Re: Confused migrant? Message-ID: Date: 10 Oct 90 12:09:29 GMT References: <1990Oct4.172011.1686@granite.cr.bull.com> Sender: misan@ra.abo.fi Organization: Abo Academy, Finland Lines: 46 In-reply-to: rmura@world.std.com's message of 5 Oct 90 01:24:34 GMT In article rmura@world.std.com (Ron Mura) writes: > > was discussing bird migration. They mentioned that early Radar > > engineers use to believe that there was some sort of fall weather > > phenomenon that happened at dusk that would cause extraneous beeps > > on their radar screens. Eventually they discovered that it was large > > groups of passerines that were apparently waiting in trees until > > dark and then flew up and over the tree tops on their migration. > > With the full moon the past few days, I was thinking about the > > possibilities of being able to see migrants at night passing in front > > of the moon. > I've known birders who do that, and also listen and can identify > migrants by call. One locally famous and well respected birder > (he's high up in the Mass. Fish and Wildlife dept.) recorded 400 > migrating blue-gray gnatcatchers one night in Wellesley, Mass., in the > 1960s. The same fellow can supposedly identify birds flying in front > on the full moon through his scope. > > Speaking of migration collisions, in a local book put out by the > > BBC (Brookline Bird Club) a few years ago, there was an interesting > > article detailing the smashed species that were found around the base of the > > Pruditial Tower in Boston. I missed the first part of this discussion so I'm sorry if I'm repeating something somebody else already said. I suppose any high towers with light act as birdcollectors during foggy or otherwise bad weather. I've spent a few nights in a lighthouse watching birds migrate. I haven't been up there on a really foggy night, but even on a half bad night lots of birds collided with the lighthouse. It's really intresting to see them go by and hear them calling. As said it is quite possible to try counting them. Identifying them against the moon is more difficult I'd say. Easy with some species, but I'm quite sure not all passerines could be identified on silhuette alone. I've heard stories about how they found thousands of dead birds under a lighthouse after a foggy night, including several rarities. I don't quite understand why they fly up to the lighthouse though, after all they don't try flying all the way to the moon. On one night there was a Short-eared Owl flying around the lighthouse. Catching the birds that flew by? Opportunist? Annika Forsten, Finland