'Birdageddon' on coast

Photo: The Canadian Press

Remains of European starlings that fell from the sky, landing dead or dying by the side of a road in Delta, B.C., in a Sept. 14, 2018, handout photo.

A British Columbia man who witnessed dozens of birds falling from the sky in Tsawwassen says he thought it was "birdageddon."

Kevin Beech says he was driving in an area just off a busy highway on Sept. 14 when the birds started hitting the ground around his vehicle.

He says it was clear the birds were either dead or dying.

Beech's Facebook post caught the attention of wildlife biologists.

Laurie Wilson of Environment Canada says a network of organizations including the Canadian Wildlife Service and officials with the provincial ministries of Environment and Forests are investigating.

She says the remains of 42 European starlings have been collected and sent to a lab in nearby Abbotsford in hopes of determining why they died.

Beech says nothing seemed unusual about the weather or other conditions, describing what he saw as "really, really creepy. Like Alfred Hitchcock, creepy."