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Posted on 09/04/13 1:19:52 PM |
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Jota120
Ingenious Inventor Posts: 2615 Reply  |
Underneith The Starlings - Ireland Co Meath
http://youtu.be/IpmquBgCMG0 Credit Hamish Brown I loved seeing them when in Cork Ireland over the River Lee estuary into the Atlantic  ...
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Posted on 14/04/13 5:25:17 PM |
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Sjef
Flying Dutchman Posts: 571 Reply  |
Re: Underneith The Starlings - Ireland Co Meath
Some amazing figures they create Jota! This beats PS of course... |
Posted on 14/04/13 10:01:35 PM |
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Frank
Eager Beaver Posts: 1767 Reply  |
Re: Underneith The Starlings - Ireland Co Meath
Amazing -- however I would'nt want to see this from a cockpit -- I wasn't a pilot but I am a retired Air Traffic Controller and I dare say our bird and pest control man would have had his hands full. Frank |
Posted on 15/04/13 07:24:33 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7047 Reply  |
Re: Underneith The Starlings - Ireland Co Meath
Extraordinary. They move like a liquid. What on earth are they doing? Frank, didn't know about your former job. Have you talked to Gordon about it? I really think you retired air traffic controllers should get together! |
Posted on 15/04/13 12:26:12 PM |
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Jota120
Ingenious Inventor Posts: 2615 Reply |
Re: Underneith The Starlings - Ireland Co Meath
Steve, before they roost on the wet lands at night they do these amazing "dances". Probably social, but deters, confuses any potential prey I believe. At the end at dusk they all drop and vanish out of the sky in seconds and roost. Of course they are migrant birds so only see them when they are getting together to return south from here, some for the first time, need guidance, and stocking up on food before the long flight! Frank, at least in Cork they are below and away from all the commercial flight paths. I don't think it is really understood how they fly in such close formations, but I think I read each is aware of its 5 closest neighbours and responds, which makes it a very complex real-time algorithm when you scale it up for all the birds in the flock, each with its 5 connections and which change rapidly over time. |