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-   -   6/19/2006: Sparrow flocks in Denmark (http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=11055)

Undertoad 06-19-2006 11:32 AM

6/19/2006: Sparrow flocks in Denmark
 
http://cellar.org/2006/sparrowflock1.jpg

Today's Earth Science Picture of the Day highlights 16 shots of these flocks of European Sparrows in Denmark. I've highlighted only these two so as to claim fair use, or something.

Flocks of millions of these birds make formations... but only during a few weeks of the year, and only a half hour before sunset. So many of the birds are in the sky that, at certain times, they block out the sun... thus the name of the phenomenon: "Black Sun".

http://cellar.org/2006/sparrowflock2.jpg

Trilby 06-19-2006 11:35 AM

Didn't some horror movie have this as a premise? I'm thinking a Vin Diesel vehicle but I could be wrong..."Pitch Black"?

skysidhe 06-19-2006 12:22 PM

wow...cool. oooh ahhh That beats the humongous dragonflies I saw yesterday. I thought they looked weird. That is just phenominal looking.

Tse Moana 06-19-2006 12:22 PM

It looks amazing! Wow!

glatt 06-19-2006 12:36 PM

I love these shots.

Elspode 06-19-2006 12:47 PM

[quote=Undertoad So many of the birds are in the sky that, at certain times, they block out the sun... thus the name of the phenomenon: "Black Sun".
[/QUOTE]
And what do the call the area *beneath* the formations? "White Grass"?

axlrosen 06-19-2006 03:36 PM

Yikes - searching Google Images for "black sun" denmark is not recommended...

glatt 06-19-2006 03:45 PM

I will not do it. I will not do it. I will not do it.

Wombat 06-19-2006 05:54 PM

I've seen London birds flocking in the same way, also just before sunset. The most amazing part was how the entire flock would dive into a tree at full speed and disappear, presumably all perched on twigs. Then 10 seconds later they would all zoom out of the tree at full speed in one mass, do a few crazy high-speed turns still all as one unit, and then dive into another tree at full speed. They repeated this dance over and over, every time with a different route. It was fantastic to watch.

YellowBolt 06-19-2006 07:09 PM

I remember hearing about presentations about how similar phenomenon happened in the US (a long time ago?) with a particular species of bird. But since you could pretty much aim a gun up and shoot to get a free bird dinner, they went extinct.

tw 06-19-2006 07:12 PM

One can take the same 'Wow' picture and see the arrival of a new black plague - bird flu. Same picture. Different perspective.

glatt 06-19-2006 07:22 PM

It goes both ways. A week or so ago, my son and I were leaning out a window, watching the world go by. I felt a sneeze coming and let it loose just as a bird flew by. I couldn't have timed it better if I tried. He laughed and laughed. A genuine belly laugh. I didn't know 4 year old could laugh that way. I thought it was pretty funny too. I totally nailed that bird with snot.:)

xoxoxoBruce 06-19-2006 07:41 PM

I think UT's second picture looks like a butterfly net.

And this flock has balls.;)

Stonan 06-19-2006 08:30 PM

Wasn't able to find a pic but here in Vacouver at the begining of dusk you can see a murder of crows about the same width in the sky as shown here but the 'flock' stretches from downtown to the suburb of Burnaby (approx 15 miles). It happens every evening as sort of a mini-migration from the parks and docks to a bird sanctuary. (Located right next to the largest McDonalds in the Lower Mainland!)

capnhowdy 06-19-2006 08:57 PM

Better have an umbrella is all I can say......

seakdivers 06-19-2006 09:34 PM

I swear this was an IOTD before, or somebody posted it in Quality Images.

Hmm...

zippyt 06-19-2006 09:44 PM

It was , but it is STILL a cool pic

Happy Monkey 06-19-2006 11:04 PM

There are swifts that live in my parents' country house chimneys that occasionally do stuff like this.

wolf 06-20-2006 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glatt
I will not do it. I will not do it. I will not do it.

Unless I searched incorrectly, it's not at all remarkable. What's scary about a German performance art band with punk undertones. Heck, I couldn't even find the racist subtext that I usually expect from something called "Black Sun"

Pancake Man 06-20-2006 03:54 PM

Rorschach test, anyone?

xoxoxoBruce 06-20-2006 04:59 PM

Yes, thats a butterfly......thats a dolphin.....that's a little girl feeding her brothers entrails to the pet wolverine......:nuts:

milkfish 06-20-2006 05:41 PM

No, it looks like the Prophet with a bomb on his head.

capnhowdy 06-20-2006 06:43 PM

not gonna search.... don't wanna know.....

Spexxvet 06-21-2006 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by capnhowdy
not gonna search.... don't wanna know.....

It's pictures of semi-naked men real close to each other. Oops.

Tse Moana 06-23-2006 07:20 PM

It's performance art, lots of plastic as well, meant to explore the relationship between spider and fly. See, I read the text as well, not just looked at the pictures :D

mitheral 06-25-2006 04:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YellowBolt
I remember hearing about presentations about how similar phenomenon happened in the US (a long time ago?) with a particular species of bird. But since you could pretty much aim a gun up and shoot to get a free bird dinner, they went extinct.

Passenger Pigeon

Undertoad 06-25-2006 09:26 AM

Sparrows attack one single tree and almost destroy it

This is one of the top stories on digg right now.

This guy lives right near me although I can't tell exactly where by the identical mcmansions


Trilby 06-25-2006 10:02 AM

That is a great example of the Universal Mind at work.

Cool.

Happy Monkey 06-25-2006 12:30 PM

Starlings are a lot bigger than sparrows, but still - that's a lot of starlings!

Undertoad 06-25-2006 12:33 PM

Starlings. Yes.

xoxoxoBruce 06-25-2006 12:50 PM

I wonder if Starlings like Mulberry's? :D

BigV 06-26-2006 11:39 AM

That is an appetite with wings. The bare trees that would almost certainly make more stable roosts aren't loaded with birds, because there's no food there. I don't know what's in the junipers, but that really looks like group hunger to me.

xoxoxoBruce 06-26-2006 07:07 PM

Juniper berries. ;)

capnhowdy 06-26-2006 08:51 PM

isn't that what they make gin out of?

wolf 06-27-2006 08:12 PM

Dude seems to be very into birding. I don't recognize the neighborhood either, ut, but then again, I don't get out much.

wolf 06-27-2006 08:46 PM

Map to the videographer's house ... can anyone put roads to the image?

People post the dumbest stuff to the internet, because they think they're anonymous.

xoxoxoBruce 06-27-2006 11:00 PM

North Grange. :rolleyes:

Ibby 06-27-2006 11:13 PM

A-haw-haw-haw.


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