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How Did You Spend the Last Quiet Sunday of 2018?
On occasion I have shared my love of flying with the Ricochet community, and this morning on my way from Annapolis MD to New Garden PA involved a lazy flight over Maryland’s Eastern Shore. This is over a rural stretch of farm land that is situated between two of the East Coast’s largest metros. Baltimore/Washington and Philadelphia. Yet for all of this “relatively” recent manmade developments, it has not erased one of nature’s time-spanning rites. The Eastern Shore has been the winter nesting region for one of the most ancient rituals of some remaining legacy dinosaurs. In this case it is the southern most point for the migration of those Canadian Geese. (Insert Canadian jokes and misplaced passports here)
My flying buddy & I were in no hurry, and we witnessed several huge flocks of these bird doing their mid-morning foraging, which typically involve a group launch, scouting around for a less picked over field for their “elevensies“, flying en mass, then dropping it for more eating, squawking, and eating. We started to follow some of these group conflagrations. This is a group we were able to capture, I hope you all enjoy this as much a Stad morning review from Myrtle Beach, which inspired me to share this little video clip.
Technical particulars: We were flying around at 2000′, the birds typically pop up to 800 to 1000 feet to see where the next meal lies. Our air speed was about 98 knots. The air was a smooth as a pond on a late summer sunset. Perfect.
Published in General
I’m with Drew. The birds are probably not Canada Geese. First, because they fly in such a large group, with no obvious formation. Canadas fly in small groups in the classic V-formation. My guess is Snow Geese, who travel in large flocks. We see them in the Skagit Valley of Western Washington in autumn, munching on leftover grain in just-harvested fields. Great video anyway!
Several years ago when the Kitfox was hangered at Easton airport, which is essentially the centroid of the Eastern Shore. I was doing the FAA mandatory 40 fly off hours, and those “Geese” were everywhere. The fields, the taxiways, occasionally swooping down along the runways making you wonder if the were smart enough to zig and zag away from the plane barreling down the runway. Needless to say I spent a lot of hours in and around Easton (it took almost a year with all of the adjustments) it required during the runoff period, and the locals all called them those @*&%# Canadian Geese.
I’m no country boy, but I took them at their word.
I helped frame a house in Easton once.
Well, perhaps they’re snow geese who’ve migrated down from Canada to enjoy Myrtle Beach’s lovely winter weather! Traditional Canada geese fly in the V shape, always. But, anyway—they’re simply beautiful and it is awesome to watch them fly in that ever-changing cloud shape without bashing into one another. Birds are amazing!!
Racist.
I would not mind living on the Eastern shore, especially if they managed to dissolve all political and financial bonds with Maryland, and just become the state of Delmarva.
I think you flew over my house. Seriously.
If it was a small plane and it buzzed your house….. that was not me…. I swear.
Quiet Sunday? We spent it screaming at the Dallas Cowboys until They won at the last minute.
I saw a Flock of Seagulls at the Dallas Convention Center in ’86.
@gadgetgal
This was my planned route, except we did a bunch of circling deviations over the Langford and Chester rivers near Chestertown.
As a reference for the non Maryland folks, that is about 1/3 of the way north of the turn over the W29 waypoint, which is Bay Bridge airport. The intersection marked by three air routes called SWANN (middle level, right side of screen shot) is where we where doing the geese
herding chasingobserving.Hint to Novice pilots:
As temping as it looks, looping under the Bay Bridge spans is a non go stunt for the humorless scolds at the FAA. It will result in at least a 90 day non flying invitation to rethink the priorities in your life.
Did you enjoy it?
“Goose privilege” . . .