Dawn flight

The trip to town this morning was another treat as the rising sun backlit the horizon and fired the clouds.

 

But the real treat was the stock pond down the road from where we live. I’ve been trying to capture the flocks of geese lifting off as the older geese teach this year’s goslings the intricacies of formation flying in preparation for the migration soon to begin.

The flock was still on the pond when I returned from dropping Frankie off at work so I found what I hoped would be a good vantage point and waited for the lift offs to begin.

I didn’t have long to wait but I’ll need to find a better position to capture all the action.

The flock doesn’t take off en masse. Individual groups take off, circle around to the north and wait for the rest of the groups before forming up into larger Vs.

Even with an image stabilized zoom lens the low light and number of groups taking flight made it challenging to capture more than a few.

It was at this point that I remembered the tripod in the back of the truck but I was worried that by the time I retrieved it and got it set up all the action would be over.

Now that I know which direction they take after lifting off I know where to set up to catch the larger formations forming. That old cow shed is a good reference point. Past experience tells me it can be seen from the Methodist church that sits on high ground on the other side of that hill.

I’ll be set up in the church parking lot tomorrow morning, waiting for the individual groups to arrive overhead. With any luck I’ll be able to get some shots of the big groups. The weather forecast is calling for a 50% chance of rain but I’ll be ready with an umbrella……and the tripod.

I just had to include a shot of this hay barn. As is the case with several other interesting buildings in the area, I’ve shot this one from different angles, in all sorts of weather and in color as well as black and white. There’s just something about the way the light plays on it that keeps drawing me back to it. You will see this barn again.