Flapping
An epiphany
I was watching a dragon fly
Hovering next to the Basel blossoms
Wings so fast
It was a blur
Then it rested
Puffing like mad!
It was knackered!
How do they do it?
I’ve never seen a bird PUFF?
An Indian minor flew by
A flurry of rapid, grouped wing beats
Then the ballistic phase
Wings folded
The fall
Dropping like a stone
Gravity kicking in
Fuck!
I’m falling??
then a mad frenetic panic
of rapid flaps
then ballistic again
dropping again
all this energy going into this oscillation
bloody imported minors
they never learn!
On the other hand
The arrogant Crow
Flaps
Then
Totally cool
Slides
Effortlessly
into sailing
gliding
No panic fighting against gravity!
Not even a puff!
No bloody effort at all!
The pricks!
Then you think about
Body drag coefficient?
How do these big buggers do it?
Pelicans?
Slow, shallow, lazy flaps
Broad wing span
Sailing, gliding
Completely under control
And they get up there with the Hawks?
Dots in the sky stuff?
What training do these guys do?
No visible sign of a puff?
I know they are careful about their diet
But really?
They all look over weight to me!
And while we are up there
The solitary Hawk
The master of the skies
Slow, languid wing beats
Ascending
Sailing, gliding in the currents
Oblivious of gravity
Soring to great height
I’ve never seen an overweight Hawk?
That may explain it?
Then breaking with the tail
A rapid, controlled flutter
Head bent
Total focus on the prey
The ballistic dive
In for the kill
supersonic
Gotcha!
Then I love
The super confident
Swagger
The slow ascending wing beats
Did you guys get that attitude?
back to the supremacy of the skies
so very little direct killing
happens in the air did you notice?
It seems to be an earth bond activity
Humanity
Being earth bound
must be feeling REALLY hemmed in
To be such an effective killing machine
we can’t just fly away
unassisted that is?
escape
we are not up to it!
Perhaps that is why birds look so C00L
They know
they can just get up and go!
anytime
With no mechanical aids?
then there are the gulls
they certainly spend a lot of time walking around
so
are they just resting?
Or just chatty?
I don’t see any chests heaving?
always in a flock
a flock of angry
battling individuals
strutting their stuff
arching the back in an aggressive scream
in their dainty
red stockinged
quick step
to chase away their own kind
they certainly know who their competition is?
Just like mankind really!
To be fair
In the air
They are graceful
Controlled
Tail breaking
Tilting into the wind
Chilling out on the waves for a bit of a lark?
Are they actually doing something?
or they could be…….
Just resting?
It is interesting to reflect on the fact
That eagles and hawks
Only seem to spend time on the ground
When they are in killing mode!
It certainly isn’t resting?
Not a puff in sight?
Although they do roost!
Lording over
Earth bound creature!
When you look across the board
Ducks, herons, robins, sparrows
None of them look tired after all that flying?
A bit raggedly sometimes
After a particularly harrowing mating performance!
Mating is obviously a competitively, arduous task?
I’m sure having significant impact on their self esteem
If rejected!
Just think?
The day in day out
beating of wings
Just to stay up there?
And for REALLY long periods of time!
No wonder some of them decided to stay on the ground!
They just had to learn to bloody RUN like hell!
At least when you stop, it’s not life threading?
Gravity doesn’t just
Throw you to the ground!
There take that!
What about when they are flushed?
I ask myself
Not in embarrassment!
Have you ever seen a bird
EMBARRASSED??
in a panic stupid!
Escaping certain death
In a frantic
flurry of wing beats
Startled into flight
Then they go like the clappers!
Beat, beat, beat
Their little heart must be racing!
Still no puffing though!
No heaving chest!
Just controlled, perch landing
A wide eyed
flurry of the feathers
Gee!
that was close!
Yet
We haven’t even mentioned the migrating birds!
Continual flying
Through all kinds of weather
Gravity laying heavily upon them
What tenacity!
The determination!
They must be exhausted poor things!
But do they REALLY know what they are doing?
Consider
Have you seen Cranes, Sandpiper’s, Swallows, Starlings
Working out?
Limbering up?
No!
They just stand around
A bit of stretching
Heads turning
That’s it!
Looking at one another
Deciding WHO is going to led and fly first!
Hell!
Don’t look at me?
Or do they just draw straws?
I must admit
I have never seen cranes
Standing around
Chests pumping
Puffing
Recovering
Leaning against trees
face down in the mud
or flat on their backs in the reeds
Exhausted!
Usually
Just a grooming
A quick check on the depleted stock of feathers
Head ducking into the doona
Just to check
Or are they like human athletes?
Really low heart rates?
that enables the relentless beading of wings
For heaven knows how long??
Which I might add
Brings us to the Humming bird
Which oddly enough is migratory?
They are small, feisty buggers
Low body drag coefficient
But BOY!
Do they need it!
With all that ducking, darting, dipping, tilting, fluttering about
Their wings are a blur
Over 70 beats a second
significantly more than their lazy brethren
who track around 2 to 7 beats per second
that is
ranging from just keeping up there to total panic!
the Blue Heron being the slowest
barely keeping airborne at 2 beats per second
a bit of a dullard really!
now
just to put it into perspective
the Humming Bird
the little blighters
you’ve got to love them
Their heart’s race at 1260 beats per second
Us humans
a paltry 60 to 100 beats per second
Athletics 40 beats per second
No wonder
They only live 3-5 years!
Birds
No matter whether they
Flap flap, fall, flap flap, fall
Or
Flappppppp, flappppppp, flappppp
With a low, shallow beat
or
Glide
Sail
Sore
I have NEVER
Seen a bird
puff pant
I rest my case!