Search for clues is on after birds fall from sky in Arkansas - CSMonitor.com

"In the middle of the New Year revelry, as many as 3,000 red-winged blackbirds, common grackles, and European starlings – which often flock together in winter – rained out of the skies, a seemingly Hitchcock-esque phenomenon that scared local residents and prompted concerns about a possible toxic event.

'This was very traumatic for a lot of people. It was very scary,' says Arkansas state ornithologist Karen Rowe, talking via cellphone while on her way to ship the birds' bodies to an ornithology lab at the University of Wisconson-Madison. 'There were a lot of people who ... witnessed the birds falling from the sky, and since it was New Year's Eve night, it lent some questions to whether there was foul play.'"

The Arkansas bird mystery seemed especially freaky because it happened all at once and on a night when large numbers of people were outside watching fireworks or traveling home from New Year's Eve parties. Dead birds littered roads, front yards, and rooftops.

Adding to the mystery is an apparent fish kill 125 miles away in the same state. A day before the bird die-off, a tugboat operator near Ozark, Ark., spotted thousands of dead drum fish floating in the Arkansas River. Biologists say the two events are probably not related and suggest that the fish kill – a much more common event than a bird rain – is likely linked to a disease that affected only one species.

"If there's any real hope of the mystery being solved, it's contained within the bodies of the birds," says Rowe. "There is a potential that [labs] might not find what happened, which is a reminder that mother nature has a way of letting us know who's in charge, by giving us these little mysteries."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Search for clues is on after birds fall from sky in Arkansas - CSMonitor.com:

 

 

  

 

Searching the web for anything red-wing,  hoping equally  effective with the wandering eyes of  public in general:

 "Every room needs a splash of color to surprise the eye."

~ my mother~

Capable bringing increased attention to an article linked from within a blog believing censoring colorful language inhibits meaningful results from civil debates, disadvantaging unfairly those most needing to be heard:

"You don't think Civil Rights and GAY RIGHTS are the SAME THING do you?

~ okay for black technician  refusing even a chance explaining why they were the same~

"ALRIGHT! Getting close to using the "N" word!"

~in role of Veterinarian~
(Having sensed condescension from same tech, debate having been cut short)

Believed the one causing trouble when wanting relative to expand on statement made at family gatherings:

"I don't care how educated a black man; he's still a nigger." 

~sibling~

(my mother believing civil debate not appropriate dinner conversation between children at the table)

"I agree!"

~Aunt from Texas~

(same statement, same sibling, this time meeting approval and endorsement  by a close sister of mother, Cousins  enjoying a Lake house view 4th of July Weekend. Mother believing civil debate not appropriately paired with Arkansan hospitality either.)