Soaring
Thanks to a cold front passing through late Friday our temperatures have been mild and the humidity very low all weekend. This has brought us crystal clear skies and nearly unlimited visibility.
Today I managed to get a few frames of turkey vultures soaring on the thermals coming off the ridges.
Keep in mind that these guys have a wingspan approaching 6 feet.
As ugly as these birds are they sure are graceful in flight.
This bird must have covered nearly a mile before having to flap his wings.
I found a few geese resting in a nearby stock pond. For the past week or so we’ve started seeing the local flocks flying in formation and I’m guessing they’re helping the youngsters build up their endurance for the coming migration.
Our neighbors to the South will tell you that God must be a Tarheel because he made the sky Carolina blue. I don’t know about that but I can tell you that the colors are so crisp and bright that it almost hurts to look up.
Oh yes, Chip, that is a lovely sight, they may be ugly in some people’s eyes but everything and everyone has a saving grace no matter how lacking they are in other departments.
Talking of the geese preparing to leave, we’ve had the same thing with swallows here on the South Coast of Britain, in fact I think they’ve all gone now, The house Martens are now on a feeding frenzy, so I expect they’ll be next, it has become a litle colder, Big sigh, I expect summer is tailing off fast, and Autumn, unless it’s dry and mild, can be just as wicked as winter. Oh Arlene Cheer up.
September 6, 2010 at 11:26 AM