4 years ago by chrismorgan
One moderately windy day when cycling, I encountered a bird that I concluded was practising precision soaring and simply enjoying itself. It was constantly adjusting its posture as necessary so that it could hover roughly in-place, with just the occasional flap needed. Then after maybe a minute it’d abruptly change position by a few metres in any direction, and start hovering again. I watched it for more than five minutes before it flew away.
I also remember another time watching a sparrow land on a wire fence backwards in a fairly strong wind: it flew with the wind towards the fence, then turned around in mid-air a metre or two before it reached the fence, was blown the rest of the way and landed neatly.
4 years ago by Swenrekcah
Your story reminds me of this video of a snowboarding crow: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3dWw9GLcOeA
4 years ago by yellowapple
Thanks; that sent me on yet another YouTube rabbit hole around crows and their zany behavior.
4 years ago by ajuc
I've seen crows do that near a corner house with L-shaped roof. The wind was going from the backyard, hitting the sloped roof and blowing straight up in that corner and a lot of crows were jumping from the roof, hovering on the wind for a few minutes and returning to the roof when they couldn't keep in the stream.
4 years ago by quercusa
Mature red-tailed hawks can hover or soar with only the slightest movements but the juveniles are comically bad at it.
4 years ago by MikeDelta
I sometimes forget that also animals need to practice in order to become good at something.
4 years ago by adflux
Plenty of birds of prey do this before going in for the dive
4 years ago by hahamrfunnyguy
A Goose flying upside down:
4 years ago by mc32
And more geese flying upside down one-upping or me tooing each other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amhgFdyW1Q8
4 years ago by throwanem
Okay, but the real question here: What'd he shoot it with?
(Old photographer joke: You're shooting by a lake on a cloudy day and you happen on someone drowning, and have to choose between dropping your gear to run to the rescue and getting a shot to sell the local paper. So - what f-stop do you use?)
4 years ago by dylan604
f/8.
I'd be more concerned about shutter speed. If the drownee is flailing their arms, dragging the shutter slower might yield a more dramatic look with the motion blur. Too high of shutter speed so the action is frozen might look more like someone rehearsing their part in a synchronized routine.
Keeping the subject in focus is more important as a decent telephoto will get you an out of focus background. Unless you're just a dick and use a wide angle but wade out into the water to get a decent framing.
4 years ago by lmilcin
With f/8 on a cloudy day you might get problem getting sharp image of the arms or have to settle on grainy image, regardless of the lens.
I would use fastest aperture I can that is still sharp and just shot a bunch of frames very quickly in hopes I can get arms in just the right, dramatic position.
As to whether to shoot wide or tele, if you feel you have enough time try to get subject to fill the frame first, while he still looks lively, and then quickly change the lens to get some additional shots with the background.
4 years ago by mpnordland
You're both wrong. There won't be much motion at all because drowning people don't splash.
4 years ago by dylan604
dragging the shutter slow enough to get motion blur would also make up for any difference in light loss. would require some sort of stabilization though. if you don't have a tri/monopod, you can set it on the ground and use some rocks or sticks (you're near a lake) to prop up the lens. also, i'd suggest using a 1 second shutter release delay to not have any bounce from you pressing the buttons on such a slow shutter.
also, digital cameras could just compensate slower f-stop with higher ISO if necessary
4 years ago by benjiweber
Apparently people drowning don't actually flail their arms (never seen anyone drowning though).
4 years ago by __s
There's videos of lifeguards: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0KTqPloUiU&list=PLgqwWmjSsN...
Can be pretty hard to see, but no absolute about flailing
4 years ago by dylan604
Apparently, some people will take the fun out of anyone joking around on an internet forum
4 years ago by mey
And this is why I carry a GoPro around in my bag.
4 years ago by dylan604
With the lensing of a GoPro, you might as well use a CameraPhone. Otherwise, anything further than 20' away will only be a few pixels in the GoPro image.
4 years ago by robocat
As always, do your refresher: http://spotthedrowningchild.com/
(On iPad I had to stop loading before page would show the random video, YMMV).
4 years ago by KMnO4
“f/8 and be there” is a common expression that describes these situations.
4 years ago by phoenix3200
This was my dad. This very last weekend.
Though to be fair, he would not have been able to rescue the said individual.
4 years ago by datavirtue
"Once young geese have mastered flying, they start to see what is possible and how far they can go, pulling in random JavaScript libraries and changing the testing framework for no reason."
4 years ago by salawat
>pulling in random JavaScript libraries and changing the testing framework for no reason."
Offenders will be hoisted up by the toes with yarn and beaten into unconsciousness with an organic carrot.
Signed: Quality Assurance
4 years ago by anonu
Trying to find more photos of this phenomenon [1][2]
[1] https://www.nikoncafe.com/threads/wow-canada-goose-flying-up... [2] https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/wildlife/5353933/Goos...
4 years ago by undefined
4 years ago by blunte
I saw this exact thing a couple of months ago not so far from Arhnem. (I thought it might be a crane, but it was moving very fast... so I could be mistaken.)
This bird was diving at about 30-45 degrees from fairly high, and it suddenly inverted, stayed inverted for a second or so, and then righted itself. It was moving very fast, and you could actually hear the sound (and the changes of sound) of the air as it was moving through it.
There were no other airborne birds of that size that I could see anywhere near it, so I initially thought it was dying or otherwise out of control. But then it descended below view, and I never heard a thump.
I searched for inverted bird flight immediately after and learned that there are a number of observed cases where birds may do that. One theory is that they sometimes do it because they enjoy it. Other theories of course involve chasing prey, observing things, showing off, etc. But I like the idea that a bird might just be having fun. I mean, if I could fly, I think I would screw around all the time just because I could. After all, children will just run around wildly just because they can run.
4 years ago by brundolf
We often assume non-human animals are totally focused on the logical business of survival. But we aren't, and I don't see why they would be any different
4 years ago by Darvokis
Watch any number of animal documentaries. Animals (particularly mammals) of all kinds engage in play, whether children or adults. I find it odd that anybody questions the idea.
4 years ago by thaumasiotes
That's more evidence that playing is part of the logical business of survival than evidence that animals aren't spending their time in the logical business of survival.
4 years ago by jon_richards
Here's a fun example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGaSHDmuAPg
4 years ago by emi2k01
There's an interesting comment in that video that says the bird thinks it's an egg and it's trying to break it open.
I don't know if that's true but I wanted to point it out to hopefully get some answers here.
4 years ago by BeefWellington
This is one of my favorite ted talks, on animal behaviour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcJxRqTs5nk
The examples of animals doing things the way they do are both funny and entertaining.
4 years ago by ambirex
say experts who are flightless and honestly a little jealous ;)
4 years ago by ProAm
This usually results in a flat spin and death heading out to sea.
4 years ago by dylan604
Talk to me Goose!
4 years ago by 0x737368
"Maverick's re-engaging, sir!"
4 years ago by soheil
But the birdie makes it worth it.
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