Coming in hot...
 

Evolution at its finest! Woo... :)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649652270.jpg

(Random picture from "Twatter")

I’m assuming it has wings?

Looks like it's from Angry Birds.

Tucked in for super aero... ;) That little birdie is having the time of his life!

What does he worry about? Food/water, sex and a cozy tree to sleep in. :cool:

...sliding glass doors.

I don't think birds worry about something they don't understand.

It's an owl?
What type?

I don't think so and I have no idea what type of bird.

Great photo!

Long tailed tit.

Tucked for maybe half a fraction of a second, halfway through the motion of flying, with a picture taken just at the right time. (or a still from a highspeed film)

And predators, they 'worry' about predators. (aliens, not so much)

Here's a series of photos that I took about 8-10 years ago. This guy was flapping and then soaring.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649680331.JPG
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649680331.JPG
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649680331.JPG

I suspect since mankind walked upright we have looked up at birds and wondered what it must be like to fly, and soar. We have a family of Mississippi Kites that live in the area. All summer long we see them soaring, wings out, not flapping, just catching thermals. I got to ride in a glider and had some of that sensation. It is fun.

I had a family of MS Kites come through and hang out in a tree at our old house years ago. Now at the new house, I see tons and tons of black and turkey vultures, and those guys do a lot of soaring a lot like your glider trip (which I'd love to do). We also have a lot of red tailed and some red shouldered hawks. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the barn swallows that I imagine are more like an F-16 or aerobatic plane. They must be the F1 or gymkhana cars of the bird world the way they fly.

I did jump out of an airplane once. It was fantastic. I can see how people get into doing it over and over again. What was interesting was how different the two parts of the descent were. The first part was all sound and fury. Imagine being in a car going 120mph and sticking your head out of the window. I just about topped out my targa once with the targa off. It was LOUD! Then you pop the 'chute, and everything goes practically silent and peaceful. If I did it regularly, I'd want a helmet to cut down on the sound from the first part. I should have realized, but I didn't think about how loud it was going to be.

I pulled into my parking lot at work once back when I commuted. A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher was chasing a moth or some bug I could just hardly see. It was swooping and changing directions like crazy. I sat in my car and watched for 20 seconds, until I am pretty sure it got it. It was astonishing to see that bird move through the air and change directions so fast.

On another day on the commute to work just at dawn, at the top of a hill 4-way intersection I saw an owl swoop right over my car, and nab a bunny rabbit. It was just astonishing how easy the owl made it look.

That's cool, and I would think fairly unusual since owls are usually more nocturnal.

When I used to commute more, and often drove past wide open fields, I'd occasionally see a hawk or raptor of some sort swoop out over a field and then dive down for a snack. I actually had one do the same 12-15' from me one day. I stepped out of my front door, locked the door, and turned around just in time to see a raptor land on something at the edge of a flower bed and then take off.

That's a "camp robber" - officially a Gray Jay. They are all over the wilderness up here. Friendliest little guys you will ever meet - they will land right on you if you have something to offer them. I love kicking back with a bag of trail mix, holding out a finger, and getting "attacked" by these little guys. They look like little white and gray tennis balls coming at you.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649701747.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649701790.jpg

Closest I ever came to an owl was about 3 feet. It would have been much closer had my windshield not gotten in the way. I don’t know what it was thinking, the thing never knew what hit him.

POW! Then I saw a ball of brown feathers fall to the ground in my rear view mirror.

^^^ did you have a mouse on your dashboard? :D