OTTAWA — Lucas Gilly, Ottawa, was driving his car west on K-68 next to the Wal-Mart Distribution Center east of Ottawa Thursday when he saw a flock of birds about 40 to 50 feet wide covering the road from ditch to ditch, ahead of him. He thought they would fly away as he approached and he didn’t slow down. He thought wrong. “None of them decided to take off to fly. They were bouncing off the hood and my windshield,” Gilly said. “It sounded like machine gun fire or the rumble strips along the side of the road. I literally hit hundreds of birds with my car.” He wasn’t injured but the bird barrage cracked his windshield, knocked off the car’s side mirror and broke a headlight; and 20 birds were stuck in the grill and in the radiator. Authorities sent a high-loader and truck to scoop up hundreds of dead birds from the road.
Thursday, Dec. 28, 5 p.m.
