Mystery Photo #2

[dryfly]

Okay gang what is going on here? NOT Photoshopped. Heavily cropped. (Terry..you are disqualified.)

 

And, no, it is not shot.

 

[Pythagoras]

I would say high wind landing attempt>? Looks like the (pict) right wing in curled....

 

Or its the immediate effect of trying to land on shimmering pavement like the pelicans will.

[Brownstone]

looks as if the pic is flipped vertically .. (but you say no PS, I'll have to believe the master) .. I'd say the goose is fleeing for its life, maybe from an attack from some sort of bird of prey..

[EdB]

Canadian goose landing in Australia......

[SanJuanWorm]

Someone wrung its neck and tossed it?

[Jeffro]

I'm going to guess a reflection in the water.....that or a goose that didn't quite get his diploma in proper flying

[monger]

They flip over to loose altitude when coming in to land some times. Pintails do it at greater speeds and makes for a great show.

[Pythagoras]

Canadian goose landing in Australia......

 

Man, sometimes the posts on this board make me giggle.

[dryfly]

Ding ding ding. Monger gets a gold star.

 

Monger is spot on ... when geese (and some other waterfowl) are dropping into a lake, sometimes a few of the birds will "dipsy doodle" down by turning sideways. This causes the wings to lose the lift and the birds slip downward faster. You may not know that sometimes the birds will turn completely upside down and reverse the uplift effect to a downdraw effect -- and they drop like stones. (A reverse Bernoulli effect.)

 

In the first picture below here you can see a few birds twisting--see arrows.

 

The second composite shot shows a bird turning in the top image and upside down in the second shot about 0.2 second later. (The camera shoots at 5 frames per second.) Note how the relative position of this bird in the second shot is lower compared to the normal birds.

 

The third shot shows another bird completely upside down. Note that the head is always upright. (The next picture in this sequence--not here--shows this bird dropped approx. 3 m in the 0.2 second relative to his upright neighbours.)

 

Like Yogi Berra said, "You can see a lot by looking."

 

Yeah Pyth....LS's comment is hilarious.

 

 

 

[Jeffro]

Ya learn something new every day......

[dryfly]

Yes Jeff, I agree. I been down a few roads and maybe had too much schooling and traveled a lot and read a lot and try to stay somewhat apprised of life in general ... and yet there is always more to learn. (Real science versus the bogus claptrap in the media and promoted by fanatical eco groups. ) I knew birds did this to lose height FAST. I took some pictures last year which showed this a bit. But this current series shows it well and I was surprised to see several birds flipped 180° .. with their heads still upright. Very cool stuff. Will try to get some more next week--we've a few hundred birds across the road again.

[Jeffro]

Yes Jeff, I agree. I been down a few roads and maybe had too much schooling and traveled a lot and read a lot and try to stay somewhat apprised of life in general ... and yet there is always more to learn. (Real science versus the bogus claptrap in the media and promoted by fanatical eco groups. ) I knew birds did this to lose height FAST. I took some pictures last year which showed this a bit. But this current series shows it well and I was surprised to see several birds flipped 180° .. with their heads still upright. Very cool stuff. Will try to get some more next week--we've a few hundred birds across the road again.

 

Amen to that Clive. Through all the bird surveys I've done, and even classes specific to waterfowl, I've never been taught this (although I could have been day dreaming at the time ). Get out and get your duck shots while they're hot the. the northern pintails are out in full force as well as wigeon's, goldeneye, redheads, etc.....

 

Got to watch a few forced copulation rituals with some pintails, which is always good for weird and twisted entertainment. Took these just the other day not far from your neck of the woods.

 

[rhuseby]

Wonderful pics guys, thanks for sharing them. I've watched geese doing the twisting thing but never noticed one completely upside down.

[dryfly]

Thanks flyslinger.

 

Jeff .. aren't pintails so cool to watch flying? Nice pix.

 

I guess it would not be cool to post pictures of copulating scaups, eh?

[dryfly]

... so to keep it clean, here is the CWS "Hinterland Who's Who" item about the male lesser scaup after Jeffro's reported "forced copulation rituals "

 

[Jeffro]

I guess it would not be cool to post pictures of copulating scaups, eh?

 

Thanks for the compliments Clive. Maybe I'll try to get a photo of one of waterfowls most romantic and sensual ritual . Of course I'm referring to the forced copulation ritual, which is quite energetic and exciting at the same time.........(boy am I glad I am not a female duck........ )

[dryfly]

I photographed scaups two springs ago from about 20 feet away. Also have only P&S shots of geese in late season---second try I guess.

 

I am not sure if anyone wants to see that or not...I sposed most don't know how tis done. Just like cats but underwater--for one of them anyway.

 

Now the forced CF is strange...three or four males all but downing a female--quite the cacophony. I've heard they can drown a female...not sure.

 

 

 

Thanks for the compliments Clive. Maybe I'll try to get a photo of one of waterfowls most romantic and sensual ritual . Of course I'm referring to the forced copulation ritual, which is quite energetic and exciting at the same time.........(boy am I glad I am not a female duck........ )

[reevesr1]

Back when I hunted ducks (a LONG time ago, I can't get up that early any more), Pintails were the ultimate. Don't know what they are like here, but by the time they got to Texas they were WARY, to say the least. They would circle the decoys multiple times, and when you had the guts to try to peek, you could see them craning their necks looking around. Smart buggers, unlike big dumb green heads.

 

I remember one group of about 6 birds circling my brother and I like 10 times. We had two groups of teal light while we are waiting for the sprigs. After 5 minutes they finally start to drop in, but flared for no reason and lit 50 yds down from us. We then waited, hoping they would swim over. By the time we gave up, maybe 15 minutes or so later, another group of teal and a group of balpate (wigeons) had hit the decoys. I don't remember how many we got when we finally stood up, but I do remember none of them were sprigs. Stupid Pintail!

[Jeffro]

Now the forced CF is strange...three or four males all but downing a female--quite the cacophony. I've heard they can drown a female...not sure.

 

 

They most certainly can drown the females, although usually she will give in before kicking the bucket (however as we all know some women are just stubborn....lol...jks). I've watched some rituals that lasted well over an hour and the poor female (redhead) could barely get out of the water by the end of it (and thats when the magic happens). No buying flowers or romancing in the duck world thats for sure....

 

A good spot to watch near town for breeding behaviour is down at Stirling in the next couple weeks!

[monger]

There was lots of Pintails on the Bow today. Even saw some Gadwalls and the all impressive Shoveler. A lot of new birds have returned home this week.

[Jeffro]

There was lots of Pintails on the Bow today. Even saw some Gadwalls and the all impressive Shoveler. A lot of new birds have returned home this week.

 

 

We've had quite a few birds come a slight bit early this year. Only waterfowl I haven't seen in abundance yet is mallards (not the resident ones) and scaup. Crows are already back as well as meadowlarks, Rough-legged hawks are moving back north as well and so on and so on. And to top it all off the horned larks are already incubating, found one nest already and the males are doing their aerial displays more frequently. Spring has sprung for those that missed it, it only gets better from here.

[monger]

You guys down there in the tropics get to see everything first. The Bow is just polluted with Mallards waiting for the ice on the ponds to melt. It was nice to see a Killdeer today as well. He better be careful along the shore because giant pieces of ice were calving off today and exploding into the water.