Freethought & Rationalism Archive

10-23-2002, 04:20 PM

Just HOW many oversized birds are there in US?

Flynn McKerrow · 10-23-2002, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MortalWombat:
Well, it's obvious that Gandalf has gotten himself into some kind of jam again, apparently in Alaska this time.

You didn't happen to read the headline "Gwaihir Spotted Over Alaska!" over on <a href="http://www.theonering.net" target="_blank">TORN</a>, did you? (First headline of Oct 22.)

MortalWombat · 10-24-2002, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Flynn McKerrow:
You didn't happen to read the headline "Gwaihir Spotted Over Alaska!" over on <a href="http://www.theonering.net" target="_blank">TORN</a>, did you? (First headline of Oct 22.)

Nope, but I'm very familiar with the whole issue of Tolkien's overuse of Eagles as Deus Ex Machina in his works.

B34RZ0R · 10-24-2002, 01:27 PM

No wait it is a Stellers Sea Eagle! With a wing span of 8ft, yeah that is a big ass bird.. especially when you are on your tractor in Alaska, suffering from exposure and have drank a little Peyote Tea!!! Not discounting that a bigger bird exists... but c'mon they have this one (stellers sea eagle) recorded & its big! and it's real... what more do you need

(just havin fun here)
Be Well
*Bear*

bluefugue · 10-28-2002, 09:06 AM

Quote:

Nope, but I'm very familiar with the whole issue of Tolkien's overuse of Eagles as Deus Ex Machina in his works.

ROFL! Yes, they do seem to be inordinately sensitive to hobbits and wizards in trouble.

Flynn McKerrow · 10-28-2002, 09:31 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by IesusDomini:


ROFL! Yes, they do seem to be inordinately sensitive to hobbits and wizards in trouble.

Don't forget dwarves!

ohwilleke · 10-28-2002, 09:54 AM

Alaska is sparsely populated. And, it has thriving wildlife. And many birds of prey pick up their prey whole leaving carcasses that make it hard to identify which kind of bird did it. They prey are small.

People have scientifically shown the existence of 8 foot birds.

It is hard to judge the size of things that are flying because you don't know how far away they are. Most people are inprecisely in their linguistic description of size.

Birds with big wingspans probably don't have much radar impact because there is very little hard substance even in a very big bird.

It wouldn't surprise me if there was a 10'-11' bird in Alaska that could look biggest in the sky at a distance.

penumbra · 10-30-2002, 11:09 AM

Not a bird. Been there, and in Alaska, that's just an undersized mosquito!

emphryio · 10-31-2002, 04:09 PM

Well, it's nice to dream.
I swear that just after sunrise on the morning my great uncle died almost directly above his house, I saw a bird very, very, high up in the sky. The wingspan appeared humongous because when the inner portion of its wing was going up the outer portion still seemed to be going down and the wings were beating in a very slow continous motion that took at least 5? seconds per beat.

The weather was very strange this morning also. And this very slow flying bird disappeared after a minute or so above a very large cloud that was unusally solid looking with a distinct border and also very high up.

I had never seen anything like it before or since in a few decades of living here on the east coast of America.

(Also beyond the frequency of the wing beat, I can't see how you could remotely estimate the wingspan of a bird silhoutted against the sky.)

echidna · 10-31-2002, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Giant bird found in Alaska !

<a href="http://www.sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet/coloringpages/view.php?contentId=59625" target="_blank">What's more, they've got pictures !!!</a>

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10-23-2002, 04:20 PM	#11
Seraphim Guest Posts: n/a	Just HOW many oversized birds are there in US?

10-24-2002, 01:27 PM	#14
B34RZ0R Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Lost in the Ether, Minnesota Posts: 1,436	No wait it is a Stellers Sea Eagle! With a wing span of 8ft, yeah that is a big ass bird.. especially when you are on your tractor in Alaska, suffering from exposure and have drank a little Peyote Tea!!! Not discounting that a bigger bird exists... but c'mon they have this one (stellers sea eagle) recorded & its big! and it's real... what more do you need (just havin fun here) Be Well Bear

10-28-2002, 09:54 AM	#17
ohwilleke Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Denver, Colorado, USA Posts: 4,834	Alaska is sparsely populated. And, it has thriving wildlife. And many birds of prey pick up their prey whole leaving carcasses that make it hard to identify which kind of bird did it. They prey are small. People have scientifically shown the existence of 8 foot birds. It is hard to judge the size of things that are flying because you don't know how far away they are. Most people are inprecisely in their linguistic description of size. Birds with big wingspans probably don't have much radar impact because there is very little hard substance even in a very big bird. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a 10'-11' bird in Alaska that could look biggest in the sky at a distance.

10-30-2002, 11:09 AM	#18
penumbra Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 1,938	Not a bird. Been there, and in Alaska, that's just an undersized mosquito!

10-31-2002, 04:09 PM	#19
emphryio Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: WV Posts: 4,369	Well, it's nice to dream. I swear that just after sunrise on the morning my great uncle died almost directly above his house, I saw a bird very, very, high up in the sky. The wingspan appeared humongous because when the inner portion of its wing was going up the outer portion still seemed to be going down and the wings were beating in a very slow continous motion that took at least 5? seconds per beat. The weather was very strange this morning also. And this very slow flying bird disappeared after a minute or so above a very large cloud that was unusally solid looking with a distinct border and also very high up. I had never seen anything like it before or since in a few decades of living here on the east coast of America. (Also beyond the frequency of the wing beat, I can't see how you could remotely estimate the wingspan of a bird silhoutted against the sky.)

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