Subject: Quake!
Date: Jul 3 05:34:58 1999
From: Jim Rosso - jrosso at mediaseek.com


A friend of mine was at a very popular birding area right before the Loma
Prieta earthquake of '89, where 60+ people died and much damage. About 5
seconds before she felt the earthquake every single bird lifted off. We
have all seen small shorebirds lift off when a Peregrine comes through, but
this time all the ducks, all the egrets, all the white pelicans, everything
rose simultaneously. She had about 3 seconds to wonder what it was about
when the earth shook and she had other things to think about. Must have
been quite a sight.

At 11:23 PM 7/2/99 -0700, lydia wrote:
>To make this "On topic".........
>
>Has anybody observed the behavior of birds before, during and after
>earthquakes? Do they spook like our domesticated non-human family
>members?

Jim Rosso
Issaquah, Washington
425-392-8440
jrosso at mediaseek.com