I posted this on the birding board, as well, but in case there are any of you who don't go there, I thought it was worthy of mention here, too.
F.L.A.P. stands for the *Fatal Light Awareness Program* and was established by a man named Michael Mesure, here in Toronto, to try to rescue birds who collide with tall, brightly-lit buildings which they mistake for clear migration paths. He also lobbies valliantly to try to get building owners to dim or turn off the lights at night in order to try to prevent more bird deaths. Unfortunately, most don't (or won't). I won't go into alot more detail because you can read all about it on his excellent website:
http://www.flap.org/. But the work he has done and continues to do, is remarkable. I have read about him and his work in the newspaper a number of times and am constantly amazed by his committment and devotion to this valuable cause. Just last week I heard him interviewed on the radio and he was saying how our recent power failure has had at least one positive effect and that is, that for several days (the actual time of the blackout, then for a full week afterwards, as the city was urged to conserve and dim all unnnecessary lights everywhere!) fewer birds were being picked up on the ground outside office towers in the downtown core of the city! Amazing!
The new September issue of National Geographic magazine has a 2-page spread they did of his birds and the author wrote a small blurb. I wish they had done a more extensive article; it certainly deserved more space, in my opinion! Unfortunately, the pages aren't numbered (?!) but if you see the magazine, just turn 5 pages in from the cover and there you will see it. In the radio interview, Mesure was saying that the photographer had to go up several stories and shoot the photo looking down, just to be able to capture all 2000 birds in this picture. The statistics that Mesure has gathered are heart-breaking, and staggering to contemplate.
I recently bought one of his *inventions* for helping to deter the birds. It's called *Wing Chimes* and is a CD in the shape of a bird (the logo, in fact, of FLAP). You hang it outside your window and the motion and reflective nature of it is designed to inform the birds far better than a flat black silhouette stuck to the glass, that this is NOT where they should be flying. You pop the CD into your computer first (be connected to the internet, though, to view the info). It has a TON of excellent info on it, including a bird profile. I think all this info is available on their website, though. Once you finish viewing it and hang it outside, you should no longer put it into the computer. It was very inexpensive and such an exellent idea, that I think I am going to buy a bunch of them and give them as gifts, as well as hang a few around my house.
Anyhow, I just wanted to mention this as I believe this is one of the most interesting and worthy stories to emerge in the world of birding in a long time. On some levels, tragically sad yet at the same time, heartwarming and amazing.
Shelley
