All Buffleheads Day and the Great Bufflehead Crash - Why?

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Wednesday, April 22nd, 2015
7:30 PM to 9:00 PM

BIRDERS NIGHT - Victoria Natural History Society

Why was the Great Bufflehead Crash of November 4, 1940, followed in rapid succession by the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Galloping Gertie) and the disastrous Armistice Day Blizzard? As a prairie farm boy, James (Kerry) Finley learned of the mysterious mass crash in eastern Saskatchewan through local lore, and it has gripped his interest ever since. In 1999, after an arctic career studying Bowhead Whales, he turned his attention to Buffleheads, from his home overlooking Shoal Harbour Migratory Bird Sanctuary in Sidney. His research includes a study area in the interior B.C. grasslands, and now spans fifteen life cycles of the Bufflehead between its fresh and saltwater habitats. Mr. Finley has developed a predictive model of weather and Bufflehead migrations built on the constant of All Buffleheads Day (ABD), the 298th day of the earth’s cycle (October 15th except in Leap years). He will explain why ABD is a national phenological phenomenon, and why it presages global weather patterns and disasters.