Amusing Huge Coincidence, page 1
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Topic started on 25-5-2011 @ 12:33 PM by angrywhitechick
Do you ever feel that fate, the universe or whatever you want to call it is laughing at you?

First a little background. I live in a very urban area. We do have a few trees and we have several different species of birds that live around here. Most of the birds are small birds like starlings. We also have a few mourning doves. Probably the biggest bird I have seen here in six years are American Crows. They usually have a wingspan of 24 inches or so. I sit on my balcony almost every day so I have been able to observe and get to know what species are flying around me.

I had this amusing coincidence happen to me yesterday...

With free time on my hands I decided to download and read a book by Mark A. Hall entitled Thunderbirds: America's Living Legends of Giant Birds. I only got to read the first sentence which stated: Some very large birds are being sighted in the skies over north America...when I was distracted by my cat. Realizing if I wanted any peace to read my book I needed to placate the cat I set the iPad down and took the kitties out on our balcony for their afternoon sun.

I am sitting on my balcony, minding my own business, when out from the clouds flies one of the biggest birds I have ever seen outside a zoo. My first thought was I was hallucinating! This bird had a wingspan of at least 6 feet. The bird flew behind some buildings and I ran indoors to get my binoculars. The bird had disappeared and I was willing to believe it had been a optical illusion (a crow that somehow had just looked big) when it suddenly took flight from a neighboring rooftop. A crow flew under it and the unidentified bird was easily three times larger. My first thought was that this was probably a lost turkey vulture but I could see through the binoculars it didn't have the distinctive red head. So now I am thinking that it is an immature bald eagle or a migrating golden eagle that is pretty far from where it should be. Neither of those three big birds are usually found here in the middle of the city. I haven't seen one in 6 years of balcony sitting.

Now I am in no way saying I saw a Thunderbird. I am guessing I just saw a big bird that was slumming in my neighborhood for some reason. What really got me about this incident was the sheer coincidence of buying and opening a book on giant birds and then seeing a pretty big out of place bird only minutes later. The joke was on me but even I thought it was funny.
edit on 5/25/2011 by angrywhitechick because: Posted before I had finished. Darn twitchy fingers!!



reply posted on 25-5-2011 @ 12:42 PM by angrywhitechick
reply to post by ChaoticOrder



Yeah, my bad! I still don't know exactly how I posted while I was in the subject box but if that is my biggest error today (not likely) I'll take it!! All because my iPad doesn't know how to spell.



reply posted on 25-5-2011 @ 12:46 PM by sprocket2cog
reply to post by angrywhitechick



Very Very Cool
I just wish everyone put the same sort of ideas and energy into creating a world like this...
would beat the way the matrix is being organized at the moment..
we need more good ideas out there, who knows we might just change the world yet..
edit on 25-5-2011 by sprocket2cog because: typos



reply posted on 25-5-2011 @ 09:00 PM by aboutface
reply to post by SystemResistor



Peregrin falcons are known for making nests in high buildings. Why not check out a bird site to compare? Peregrins went to the brink of extinction, if I remember correctly, and if that's what it was, that could be useful information for the local wildlife and bird trackers.
edit on 25-5-2011 by aboutface because: (no reason given)



reply posted on 25-5-2011 @ 09:12 PM by thetiler
Originally posted by angrywhitechick
Do you ever feel that fate, the universe or whatever you want to call it is laughing at you?

First a little background. I live in a very urban area. We do have a few trees and we have several different species of birds that live around here. Most of the birds are small birds like starlings. We also have a few mourning doves. Probably the biggest bird I have seen here in six years are American Crows. They usually have a wingspan of 24 inches or so. I sit on my balcony almost every day so I have been able to observe and get to know what species are flying around me.

I had this amusing coincidence happen to me yesterday...

With free time on my hands I decided to download and read a book by Mark A. Hall entitled Thunderbirds: America's Living Legends of Giant Birds. I only got to read the first sentence which stated: Some very large birds are being sighted in the skies over north America...when I was distracted by my cat. Realizing if I wanted any peace to read my book I needed to placate the cat I set the iPad down and took the kitties out on our balcony for their afternoon sun.

I am sitting on my balcony, minding my own business, when out from the clouds flies one of the biggest birds I have ever seen outside a zoo. My first thought was I was hallucinating! This bird had a wingspan of at least 6 feet. The bird flew behind some buildings and I ran indoors to get my binoculars. The bird had disappeared and I was willing to believe it had been a optical illusion (a crow that somehow had just looked big) when it suddenly took flight from a neighboring rooftop. A crow flew under it and the unidentified bird was easily three times larger. My first thought was that this was probably a lost turkey vulture but I could see through the binoculars it didn't have the distinctive red head. So now I am thinking that it is an immature bald eagle or a migrating golden eagle that is pretty far from where it should be. Neither of those three big birds are usually found here in the middle of the city. I haven't seen one in 6 years of balcony sitting.

Now I am in no way saying I saw a Thunderbird. I am guessing I just saw a big bird that was slumming in my neighborhood for some reason. What really got me about this incident was the sheer coincidence of buying and opening a book on giant birds and then seeing a pretty big out of place bird only minutes later. The joke was on me but even I thought it was funny.
edit on 5/25/2011 by angrywhitechick because: Posted before I had finished. Darn twitchy fingers!!


Fun story !!! Thanks for sharing


reply posted on 25-5-2011 @ 10:28 PM by angrywhitechick
reply to post by aboutface



That is a good thought but I am positive it wasn't a falcon. For one thing it was much bigger. Also I got a good look at the silhouette and the bird had more of a neck and the wings were more straight across the top instead of the sort of a curve that peregrines have. That is why I was thinking vulture or eagle. I do have a nice full color audubon picture app for my iPad that will be a great help if the bird ever flys over again.

You have gotten me thinking, though. Where I lived previously had like a rare bird hotline where you could call, listen to a recorded message of what rare birds others had seen and then leave a message if you had seen anything. I should get my google on and see if I can fins something similar here. Thanks!
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