I live in Sandy near Little Cottonwood Canyon. The city's "glow ball" lighting system does a great job of lighting the bottom of airplanes (ugh) but it also lights up flocks of birds travelling overhead. Anyone know what type of birds are flying by at night? I was out last night bumping around some Messier objects around 10pm before the moon kicked in and there were numerous flocks of birds slipping through my eyepiece view. The city glow illuminated them well. They seem rather high in altitude. They were light in color. Possibly white. I'm assuming a smaller bird from their movement and they traveled in a loose "V" or "W" when in flock. I saw them a number of times last year too. Anyone else see these night travelers? Anyone know who they are? Just being Mr. Curious! Thanks! Bruce Hugo
Geese? Did you hear any honking? I understand those critters can fly pretty high. On Thursday, August 14, 2014 1:45 PM, Bruce Hugo via Utah-Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> wrote: I live in Sandy near Little Cottonwood Canyon. The city's "glow ball" lighting system does a great job of lighting the bottom of airplanes (ugh) but it also lights up flocks of birds travelling overhead. Anyone know what type of birds are flying by at night? I was out last night bumping around some Messier objects around 10pm before the moon kicked in and there were numerous flocks of birds slipping through my eyepiece view. The city glow illuminated them well. They seem rather high in altitude. They were light in color. Possibly white. I'm assuming a smaller bird from their movement and they traveled in a loose "V" or "W" when in flock. I saw them a number of times last year too. Anyone else see these night travelers? Anyone know who they are? Just being Mr. Curious! Thanks! Bruce Hugo _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club. To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options".
Yeah, like over Mt. Everest. Their lungs are different than ours (unidirectional-airflow lungs for geese) …hence, no oxygen bottles and masks are needed to make the ascent. If I remember, correctly, the American alligator and geese have similar lung anatomy. Little evolutionary aside to throw in there for good measure. I looked up the “Science” magazine reference. Tell Larry I did remember correctly for once. I need some unidirectional-airflow lungs so more oxygen gets to my brain. Unidirectional Airflow in the Lungs of Alligators ABSTRACT The lungs of birds move air in only one direction during both inspiration and expiration through most of the tubular gas-exchanging bronchi (parabronchi), whereas in the lungs of mammals and presumably other vertebrates, air moves tidally into and out of terminal gas-exchange structures, which are cul-de-sacs. Unidirectional flow purportedly depends on bellowslike ventilation by air sacs and may have evolved to meet the high aerobic demands of sustained flight. Here, we show that air flows unidirectionally through parabronchi in the lungs of the American alligator, an amphibious ectotherm without air sacs, which suggests that this pattern dates back to the basal archosaurs of the Triassic and may have been present in their nondinosaur descendants (phytosaurs, aetosaurs, rauisuchians, crocodylomorphs, and pterosaurs) as well as in dinosaurs. Dave On Aug 14, 2014, at 14:13, Joe Bauman via Utah-Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
Geese? Did you hear any honking? I understand those critters can fly pretty high.
On Thursday, August 14, 2014 1:45 PM, Bruce Hugo via Utah-Astronomy <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> wrote:
I live in Sandy near Little Cottonwood Canyon. The city's "glow ball" lighting system does a great job of lighting the bottom of airplanes (ugh) but it also lights up flocks of birds travelling overhead.
Anyone know what type of birds are flying by at night? I was out last night bumping around some Messier objects around 10pm before the moon kicked in and there were numerous flocks of birds slipping through my eyepiece view. The city glow illuminated them well. They seem rather high in altitude. They were light in color. Possibly white. I'm assuming a smaller bird from their movement and they traveled in a loose "V" or "W" when in flock. I saw them a number of times last year too.
Anyone else see these night travelers? Anyone know who they are?
Just being Mr. Curious!
Thanks! Bruce Hugo _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy
Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com
The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club.
To unsubscribe go to: http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Then enter your email address in the space provided and click on "Unsubscribe or edit options". _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy
Send messages to the list to Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com
The Utah-Astronomy mailing list is not affiliated with any astronomy club.
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participants (3)
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Bruce Hugo -
Dave Gary -
Joe Bauman