Clear to land

It is pretty obvious that birds need to land after a flight. And while any bird in flight is a joy to watch, they don't necessarily grace us with a pretty sight at the actual landing. But it all comes down to adversing forward speed and lift into reduction of speed and preventing to drop down.

Grey Heron landing. MAE©2011

The first example of a less graceful landing must be the Great Blue Heron. They look very strange in flight with their bent neck and stretched bill. They are normally vertically orientated while looking for fish and they are horizontally orientated once in the air. But once the landing procedure start (do they also work through a check-list?) they spread every wing and limb they have available so as to not crash beyond repair. The sight is almost frightening.

Herring Gull just landed. MAE©2011

Herring Gulls have the tendency to land in the water rather the on the water. As if they are not able to calculate the moment of impact. I have already shown one example in another post. But this was not the first time I saw such a landing. Earlier I had seen a fine example of this just by accident. You cannot make nice pictures without any occasional luck. This one was landing just outside one of the hides in London Wetland Centre and I am very grateful to the gull.


But the most impressive landing I have taken a picture of to date must be the Harris Hawk during a falconry display this Summer at Blenheim Palace. And although she has some extra, unnatural footwear and the display was a bit circus-like, it was a beautiful sight altogether. But then again: any bird of prey is impressive...

Harris Hawk in attack mode. MAE©2011