By JEFFREY SMITH
Leader staff writer
International interest in the intriguing death of thousands of red-wing blackbirds on New Year’s Eve in Beebe continues. This week, a British Broadcasting Corp. film crew was in Beebe interviewing residents about the night blackbirds rained from the sky.
The British crew from Bristol, England, is working for the BBC’s natural-history unit. They were recording footage and interviews for an untitled nature series to air on the BBC early next year and possibly on BBC America later in mid-2012.
The theme of the show is unusual occurrences in nature. Along with the blackbirds, the crew is covering weather phenomena, sink holes and insect swarms.
Lucy Wells, a researcher with the film crew, said people in England have heard about the blackbird deaths here. She said the story captures the imagination.
“I think the Beebe birds hit international news almost straight away. There was certainly something about the story that captured public imagination—probably that such a high number fell on an auspicious night—plus the pictures of men in white chem suits,” sound engineer Chloe Pearne said.
Among people the BBC crew interviewed were Beebe Police Chief Wayne Ballew, Windwood subdivision residents Charles and Faye Moore, and Karen Rowe, a nongame bird biologist for Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.
The crew also visited a lab at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Athens, where some of the dead blackbirds from Beebe were dissected.
“I think it is great we have people coming from England to our little community in Beebe, Arkansas, for two days. It gives us a touch of interacting with people from across the water. Their accents are wonderful,” said Charles Moore, an algebra professor at Arkansas State University-Beebe.
“It has put (Beebe) on the map. I’m amazed at the continued interest (in the blackbird deaths). It is fascinating. People love a mystery. It is fun to talk about. There are a lot of unanswered question with any theory you select,” Moore said.
Last week, Moore was interviewed by David Rush, a man from Las Vegas who has a travel show on the Internet. Rush is traveling across the United States, recording places he sees and the people he interviews on his website, www.DavidRush.net, and on YouTube.
The common belief for the massive deaths of blackbirds is large fireworks startled the estimated 1.6 million blackbirds from their roosts in the trees in the field near the Windwood subdivision.
Moore, a 16-year resident of Beebe, said pine trees once grew in the field along West Center Street. The pines were harvested and thorny trees grew up in their place. The new trees attracted the red-wing blackbirds and the birds have since migrated to the area every fall.
The Game and Fish Com-mission reported that three laboratories determined the 4,000 to 5,000 blackbirds scattered around town died from blunt-force trauma caused by crashing into each other, into houses and trees.
Experts say the blackbirds cannot see well at night. On New Year’s Eve, the blackbirds were seen on weather radar leaving their roosts. One wave of birds was recorded at 10:20 p.m. and a second smaller wave was at 11:21 p.m.
City clerk/treasurer Carol Crump-Westergren said calls to city hall about the blackbirds have stopped, except for a few from concerned residents before the Fourth of July celebration.
Back in February, John Rubin Productions, a documentary film crew from Cambridge, Mass., recorded footage of the blackbird flocks leaving their roost at dawn and returning to their roosts in the evening.
They also interviewed Beebe residents and city officials for a documentary to air on National Geographic Channel’s Explorer series.
Last week, producer/director John Rubin told The Leader that no air date for the documentary has been set by the National Geographic Channel.
