Even if his (Scully's) eyes weren't out in front of the nose - weren't Skiles (who was PF)? Did he see the birds coming? I don't know - I remember a [WHOA!] comment or something like that right? Maybe he was scanning the entire area for threats instead of staring out the front windscreen. The times that I have missed birds (or did they miss me?) - I was able to take some pretty aggressive action. Would this be normal procedure in an airliner?

I can see where this is going.
In any case - some will always focus on the wrong points and there isn't much you can do about that. All we can hope is to take what will help each and every one of us in the future and leave others to their lessons too.

USMCFLYR