Thursday, October 9, 2008

What Does It Look Like When Geese Land In The Water?

I went back to Heritage Park, thinking I was through posting pictures of geese. I drove past the place I saw them before, and they were gone. As I looked to the left, I saw that there were a few still there. I turned towards the parking area to get to some of the hiking trails.

On my way there, I noticed about a dozen geese swimming in the pond at the front of the park. Then I looked around and saw them everywhere else too. Ahh, this is where they went. I had been thinking about getting some pictures of the pond, but I've had other things to do first. Until Now.

When I parked, I quickly walked over to the pond and began taking pictures of these geese. I wasn't sure if anything would make it here, but I like the geese, and I wanted the pictures for myself. If you want to see more, you'll have to let me know.

As I was taking my pictures, I looked to the left and saw more geese flying in. As I've talked about before (Here and Here), it took me quite some time to get a picture of any birds in flight. So you can imagine my joy at seeing this.

I turned my camera towards the birds that were flying in and started taking as many pictures as I could get. This time I got a whole flock of flying birds. It was my lucky day! It's hard to see them in this picture until you click on it. Then they are clearly visible.

All I could think about was that I got the picture of the birds flying to the pond. It was getting much easier to do now. I kept on taking pictures of them as quickly as I could, not thinking about what I would see next.

I saw the ducks actually hitting the water! I never expected to see this. And I thought when it happened, I didn't get the picture. I didn't find out until I got home and checked my pictures.

This is an amazing thing to watch, and as you can see, I have the whole small flock landing in the water. So now you can see the various stages of a bird landing in one photo. They spread their wings to slow themselves down. Then they lean back, and stretch their legs forward. And they go feet first into the water.

Here's the last stage of their water landing. The geese are leaving a wake behind them as they glide to a stop. This is another picture I didn't realize I had, until I got home. I watched as they all came to a complete stop and turned around and swam the other way.

It's amazing to think about the similarities between the landings of birds and planes. If you've ever watched a plane land, it's almost an identical thing. Except their wheels come down, instead of feet. It's something not many of us think about until we see it for ourselves.

These pictures show an amazing sequence of what a water landing for geese looks like. The only thing better is actually being there and seeing it as it happens. I'm telling you, it's a great feeling to see something like this. Especially when you didn't expect it at all.

What will come next for The Everyday Adventurer? Find out tomorrow!

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