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Playing in the thermals
whiteclouder
Member Posts: 10,574 ✭✭✭
Watched about 30 Honey Buzzards circling above; some as low as a couple hunded feet, but most at about 2500. Not the prettiest bird up close, aloft they are matched only by an albotross for their ease. Beautiful, but a camera would have done little to show it all.
Clouder..
Clouder..
Comments
In fact one of my tricks for finding a thermal was to find the birds. If a bird was circling, and climbing, he was in a thermal.
So, I might see a flock of 5 buzzards circling and climbing. They were a mile away. I just headed over there, doing about 25 mph, and got right into the thermal with them.
But, you couldn't fly alongside a buzzard. Once you got within a hundred yards of the buzzards they flew away, and I was in the thermal all by myself.
On the other hand, the red tail hawk was fearless, I have flown 50 feet away from a red tail, at 3,000 feet above the ground, for five minutes.
Honey buzzards are not ugly, grumpy, they're just not pretty. I've been up close and personal with the turkey vulture; vile creature with a propensity to puke or crap on you if you get hold of one.
Clouder..
Here I am, flying above Lookout Mountain. I had the camera mounted on the right wing, I am holding the shutter release in my right hand. 35mm Minolta camera and 28 mm lens.
Another pic of me at Lookout. My girlfriend took the pic from the launch with a 200mm lens.
Buzzards were scardy cats and were no fun. But, I hooked a thermal once and got right above a big redtail hawk. He was about 50 feet below me, and just in front. We were 3,000 feet high. Think if I had a movie camera; there are few people who have ever seen this magnificent bird from such a perspective.
These master aviators use wingtip feathers like we use fingers. They can flick one or two feathers to adjust their position in the sky.
After about 5 minutes, the redtail got tired of me tailgating him. He looked up over his shoulder, and looked me right in the eye, as if to say "Bye bye."
Tucked in those wings and flew away fast, I guess he liked his privacy.
That must be a couple steps closer to freedom then being on a bike is.
Cool pictures Allen! Thanks for sharing those.
That must be a couple steps closer to freedom then being on a bike is.
Way COOL!!! [:p]
Where are you that you're seeing Honey Buzzards?
I think I may have mis-identified my aerial friends. Without binoculars I can't be sure they don't have bald heads but I didn't think so. Google tells me the Honey variety doesn't appear here in Idaho and a call to F&G told me we have Turkey Vultures only. Those I've handled in Texas and they are nasty. So Turkey Vultures it is.
Clouder..
Looking down and seeing nothing but treetops might give me pause. The playground here is wide open and more or less treeless. Do you use a landing strip?
I envy you the top down look at a hawk.
Clouder.
Here ya go Clouder,,,,watch it in full screen,,,[;)]
http://www.noob.us/entertainment/paragliding-alongside-his-pet-hawk/
What a thrill! I appreciate you sharing that.
Clouder..
It is called a wire launch because the wind is blowing so hard, if I just went to the edge of the cliff by myself, the wind would * over, or up and over. ie a crash.
My ground crew is holding me to the ground by holding on to my flying wires.
I yelled out "Clear!" and my ground crew released the wires. It is time to go!
We landed in that field that is visible below me, and to the right, in that pic above, taken from behind me.
Well, that was the idea. Sometimes the boys landed in the trees. They had "The Order of the Silver Pine Cone" which you attained by landing in a tree. In a little ceremony, one of the veteran fliers would hand you a little silver pine cone with a little silver chain, you could wear it around your neck.
WC,
Ironic though you're right, vultures are indeed pretty graceful when they are in the air, but completely ugly on the ground...
At the other end of the spectrum are Sandhill Cranes. Majestic on the ground, but absolutely the most ungraceful (noisy) bird in the sky. Ever seen them migrating? You hear them long before you see them, and they're usually way up there! After you stare into the sky for a while you'll see them in the most raggedy formation, changing leaders, making racket and generally flying in no particular direction.
They are a disorganized bunch for sure. All the squawking and chatter is everyone giving orders at the same time and nobody paying attention. There's a large refuge and nesting area near where I pan gold. I always stopped and watched them through binoculars because they are so beautiful.
Clouder..
Turkey buzzards are OK; they only eat dead things. The Mexican buzzards are much more bold, and will attack and kill animals that appear small and helpless. A friend who has cows has seen them attack and kill newborn calves, and we saw one swoop down and try to snatch our rat terrier out of the yard.
When they are eating on the side of the road, the turkey buzzard will take flight long before your vehicle gets even close, while the Mexican buzzard very often will just stand there and watch you drive by.
Even though it is a predator and not just a scavenger, the Mexican buzzard is still protected by law.
Merc
quote:Originally posted by whiteclouder
quote:Originally posted by Flying Clay Disk
WC,
Ironic though you're right, vultures are indeed pretty graceful when they are in the air, but completely ugly on the ground...
At the other end of the spectrum are Sandhill Cranes. Majestic on the ground, but absolutely the most ungraceful (noisy) bird in the sky. Ever seen them migrating? You hear them long before you see them, and they're usually way up there! After you stare into the sky for a while you'll see them in the most raggedy formation, changing leaders, making racket and generally flying in no particular direction.
They are a disorganized bunch for sure. All the squawking and chatter is everyone giving orders at the same time and nobody paying attention. There's a large refuge and nesting area near where I pan gold. I always stopped and watched them through binoculars because they are so beautiful.
Clouder..
Here I am, flying above Lookout Mountain. I had the camera mounted on the right wing, I am holding the shutter release in my right hand. 35mm Minolta camera and 28 mm lens.
Another pic of me at Lookout. My girlfriend took the pic from the launch with a 200mm lens.
Buzzards were scardy cats and were no fun. But, I hooked a thermal once and got right above a big redtail hawk. He was about 50 feet below me, and just in front. We were 3,000 feet high. Think if I had a movie camera; there are few people who have ever seen this magnificent bird from such a perspective.
These master aviators use wingtip feathers like we use fingers. They can flick one or two feathers to adjust their position in the sky.
After about 5 minutes, the redtail got tired of me tailgating him. He looked up over his shoulder, and looked me right in the eye, as if to say "Bye bye."
Tucked in those wings and flew away fast, I guess he liked his privacy.
I'll bet you don't forget to put the gear down[:)]
I learned to hang glide at Kitty Hawk.
Like the Wright brothers, I figured it didn't hurt as much to crash in sand.
The biggest risk is a stall on takeoff or landing. It takes the glider 35 feet to recover from a stall. So, if you are landing, and you stall at 30 feet, you are going to nose in.
If you stall on launch, you will probably join the Order of the Silver Pine Cone.
At a crowded site like Lookout is, on a good day for flying, there is also the risk of a midair collision with another glider. In that event you will have a broken glider, hopefully you can get your parachute out in time.