“This happened when the severe weather cells were passing through the area.”
I used to be a serious hang glider pilot. At a meet in Italy... several hang gliders were sucked into a giant cumulonimbus cloud that came through the area. The pilots were sucked up to 60,000 ft, suffocated, charred by lightning, frozen and deposited on the ground approximately 60 miles away. This type of accident has caused the deaths of numerous hang glider and paraglider pilots over the years. I am sure that even birds who obviously have better flying instincts than people have suffered the same fate on occassion.
I think you’re right, it could happen. I think tho it odd tho, to have several such incidents all of a sudden, altho maybe it’s a more common occurrence than we know and now it’s just being reported. *shrug*.
Fascinating and tragic report from Italy.
I used to try to find a good thermal that would exceed the rate of descent of my old Piper Colt but never did. But I hear the Sierra Waves could do it.
One thing about the bird flocks is that I would think the individuals would end up more scattered on the ground than they are. After 60,000 feet up and then down, with incredible turbulence at times, it is surprising they remain in such a tight formation.