In a message, rcoleman AT nvinet.com writes:

Subject: Two Really Burned Out Baby Bluebirds
......Please forgive me if this is not the right kind of thing to post
here, but
thought you might enjoy some good news to start your busy week!....



--------------------------------------------
Wow, what a great subject line especially since I would never have guessed
what was coming next when my mind was conjuring up an image of a couple
drunk and/or stoned baby bluebirds! :-))

That's quite a story and an early 'apology' befitting and questioning
what's 'appropriate' for tweeters in this case is way off the chart
unnecessary. Kudos! Fascinating and certainly appropriate! Mucho thanks!

If anything, I am surprised the bluebirds actually survived. If not
killed outright by the lightning strike, I would have thought, maybe more so,
the shock wave (thunder) and the physics of what lightning does to air in a
nano-second would have done them in. During our bout of 'westside'
thunderstorms a couple weeks ago and reflecting back on the Bald Eagle up near Lake
Stevens found dead under the tree in which it was perched when a lightning
bolt shattered the tree, I wonder now what part of that event actually
killed the eagle.... the lightning, the shock wave and thunder, or was it hit
by flying debris from the exploding tree? I wonder if anyone actually did
an autopsy/necropsy on that bird. Anyone know?

The actual physical dynamics of a lightning strike is incredible. It
happens impossibly fast for the eye to capture and fully appreciate. Slowing
it down and capturing the event on film at 7-9,000 "images" per second(!)
reveals a 'fireworks' show far beyond and above anything a pyro setting up
and executing the Lake Union or anywhere July 4th show could ever match.

Courtesy of APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day) -- one of my favorite all
time websites including the archive link btw..., check out these awe
inspiring videos which should put your perspective on lightning and respect for
such on a whole new level. There's an awful lot more going on 'up' there in
that nano-second than meets the eye.

(1) _APOD: 2012 July 23 - Lightning Captured at 7207 Images per Second_
(http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap120723.html) (first 7 seconds)


These below are no less incredible!!! Nothing has ever captured the
dynamics of what really goes on during a lightning 'flash' which to the eye we
can only perceive in a familiar instantaneous 'bolt' or several 'flashes' in
the split second of it's life.

(2) _Downward Positive Cloud-to-Ground Lightning Flash Triggers Upward
Positive Lea_ (http://vimeo.com/45803576)
(3) _Upward Lightning from a Tower on Vimeo_ (http://vimeo.com/45802701)
(4) _Upward Lightning Filmed at 7,207 images per second on Vimeo_
(http://vimeo.com/30577412)





Richard Rowlett
Bellevue(Eastgate), WA
Pterodroma AT aol.com