Birds on a Wire
Comments: 13
Birds sitting on electric wires like notes on a stave. There were hundreds of them — this is a very small sample. They’d be sitting there and then suddenly explode into flight almost simultaneously. You could see the flight impulse detonate in a particular part of the birdmass and then — whoosh! — a cloud of birds of would circle around for a moment or two before settling back down on the wires to await the next invisible takeoff signal. Quite spectacular.
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Posted to Photographs • 2003.11.15 (Sat) • 00:29
Comments
Posted by ste 2003.11.15, 01:59
Funny, I’ve been noticing the same sorts of things around here (Richmond, VA USA) recently. Unfortunately, I never have my camera with me when I notice the birds on our wires … I should fix that.
Posted by resonance 2003.11.15, 03:00
Hitchcock would be proud.
Posted by Blake 2003.11.15, 09:22
That’s so scary you post that picture…I have an idea for an interactive design that has that exact imagery. Birds on lines. Lots of them. Wow, Twilight Zone.
Posted by De Schulpjes 2003.11.15, 16:06
Nice picture.
Posted by Larrissa 2003.11.17, 02:09
looks like the cowbirds that here in texas during winter gather by seemingly millions. always amazed by the spectacle. they have one of the most varied songs of all birds. almost half the notes are out of human hearing range.
Posted by Kris 2003.11.17, 02:38
We have some trees here in front of the building that are popular with sparrows in the late summer. Making a tremendous noise (and mess), they gather in the tree, then suddenly shut up. A fraction of a moment later the tree falls apart in a haze of birds.
Posted by H.M. 2003.11.17, 04:38
Posted by Nate 2003.11.25, 13:20
That photograph is really quite amazing. It’s so starkly geometrical, yet has the remarkable element of the birds to give it a natural vivacity. Having one bird in flight while the rest are seated is an amazing feat of timing or luck. Either way, what a picture.
Posted by jh 2003.11.25, 23:14
Nate —- This is the biggest advantage of a digital camera: I can shoot and shoot and shoot and … sometimes … something turns out. I exposed a couple of dozen frames for these birds which just isn’t something I would have done with film, being too mindful of the cost.
Posted by Witold Riedel 2003.11.29, 01:42
music to my eyes. stunning. and yes… “burning digital film” feels so much better… ; )
Posted by Addie 2005.11.01, 22:48
Don’t you wonder which was the first bird who stopped flight to sit on the wire? Why did the others join? And why do the flocks, not necessarily the same flock(s), pick the identical wire at the same time of day. There is one area of a 6 lane highway which if I drive it between 5-6 PM at night the birds are as bumper-to-bumper on that wire as the cars are on the roadway. But at any other time of day there are few, if any, of them present in that area.
Posted by Alva 2006.01.15, 09:43
Just why do lots of birds sit on wires. They line up like little solders all in a row. Do they get a buzz.
Posted by Jibraan Zobairi 2006.03.22, 11:26
Does anyone know why birds sit like this? Please let us know as our family is very curious about it?
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