tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post114835817350759945..comments2024-03-26T16:03:42.608-06:00Comments on Flares into Darkness: Into the Abyssambisinistralhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03836786826294202405noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1148423559767826782006-05-23T16:32:00.000-06:002006-05-23T16:32:00.000-06:00Thanks for the update Knuck. It's good to know tha...Thanks for the update Knuck. It's good to know that Ospring I has achieved, if not lift off, at least dive down and return. Now it's just a matter of him/her getting to the gym every day and developing those pecs until all the flapping achieves its intended effect.<BR/><BR/>One of the funnier (at least to me) nature moments that I have witnessed was a young bald eagle who grabbed a baby salmon (maybe 1 - 1 1/2 lbs.) quite nicely and then couldn't gain altitude to get to its favorite tree perch. It wouldn't let go and it's beach landing wasn't exactly a feat of aerial art. In fact, it did a Three Stooges face plant and squawked about it quite noisily for a bit afterwards.<BR/><BR/>It did eat the fish though, which was the point of the exercise.Rick Ballardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11082425215912372067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1148393127201509432006-05-23T08:05:00.000-06:002006-05-23T08:05:00.000-06:00Ha--figures--being albatosses and all--Ha--figures--being albatosses and all--buddy larsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17760847873026506988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1148392630200214842006-05-23T07:57:00.000-06:002006-05-23T07:57:00.000-06:00I've got a little house spider on my desk. It has ...I've got a little house spider on my desk. It has built itself a webby contraption of some sort under the overhang of a bigger book atop a smaller. I've been watching the little guy for a week now. So yes, some of us ARE easily entertained!buddy larsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17760847873026506988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1148392338582612642006-05-23T07:52:00.000-06:002006-05-23T07:52:00.000-06:00They learn to fly with less mishaps and more grace...They learn to fly with less mishaps and more grace than when I learned to walk, if my Mother is to be believed.<BR/><BR/>And then when I remember learning to ride a bike ....<BR/><BR/>The Lord's creation is astounding.Ed onWestSlopehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09852314242739833333noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1148366281614408242006-05-23T00:38:00.000-06:002006-05-23T00:38:00.000-06:00Excellent observation.I suppose they eventually le...Excellent observation.<BR/><BR/>I suppose they eventually learn the right maneuvers by observing their parents and possibly their parents do train them. That is if they are anything like crows.<BR/><BR/>A few years ago I stopped at a gas station. The guy filling my tank seemed distracted and wasn't watching what he was doing. He showed me what it was that he was interested in. <BR/><BR/>For the last few hours there was a family of crows with the parents teaching the two young ones how to land on the tip of a pole. One parent on the pole, other and two young ones on a billboard. <BR/><BR/>Caws from the pole. One young one would fly to the pole in an attempt to unseat the parent. If his angle wasn't quite right, he'd flutter and fly back to the billboard. Caws again and another attempt. Angle right, feet perfectly placed at height of pole tip, parent crow flys to billboard and young one now on pole.<BR/><BR/>Other parent flys to pole, unseats young one who flies back to billboard.<BR/><BR/>Other young one attempts flight to pole.<BR/><BR/>Rinse. Repeat.<BR/><BR/>I stood there and watched with the attendant for quite a bit until another customer came along and I got back in the car and drove off.Sylhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03069871911665125873noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16821859.post-1148362993357047542006-05-22T23:43:00.000-06:002006-05-22T23:43:00.000-06:00Nice post--reminded of the awed fascination of wat...Nice post--reminded of the awed fascination of watching slow-motion film of predator birds maneuvering--how a hawk or an owl can aerobat the last few feet of drop--at high speed and with a ground collision an instant away--to adjust to a darting direction-changing prey and get a talon on it and then beat that lifting zoom back up into the air. Makes ya <A HREF="http://www.answers.com/topic/argument-from-poor-design?hl=ex&hl=nihilo" REL="nofollow">wonder</A>.buddy larsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17760847873026506988noreply@blogger.com