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A flock of vaux swifts funneling down for the night

This video is incredible. Beautiful. How they can stay in formation is beyond me.

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by Anonymousreply 20January 16, 2021 12:43 PM

Bonus: a flock of starlings in formation.

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by Anonymousreply 1January 14, 2021 6:30 PM

A formation of tree swallows:

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by Anonymousreply 2January 14, 2021 9:40 PM

Thank you OP! Thank you!

During the whole of this shitty year which and the current spike in shittiness, nature has been my one real consolation.

by Anonymousreply 3January 14, 2021 11:20 PM

Gorgeous. I'm with R3. I saw three new birds this past summer/fall/winter—a bright spot. Never seen those swifts, although I did see a chimney swift fly down a chimney across the street from me this summer.

by Anonymousreply 4January 14, 2021 11:27 PM

You're welcome r3!

And me too. Oddly enough, I started something this summer that I never thought I'd enjoy: cloud watching. I just lay outside on sunny days and watch the formations change. I've learned to identify the main types of clouds and their approximate elevations. It's fascinating and a great way to relax.

It's like ... there's been a whole world up there my entire life, and I'm just now discovering it. It's almost like discovering a new planet.

Okay, I'll MARY!! myself out now

by Anonymousreply 5January 14, 2021 11:32 PM

I love swifts, r4. One species stays in flight for ten months at a time, eating and sleeping on the wing.

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by Anonymousreply 6January 14, 2021 11:35 PM

[quote] Bonus: a flock of starlings in formation.

There are shallow rollers, and there are deep rollers. You can’t breed two deep rollers or their young, their offspring, will roll all the way down, hit and die. Agent Starling is a deep roller, Barney. Let us hope one of her parents was not.

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by Anonymousreply 7January 14, 2021 11:59 PM

I love you, Hannibal troll. 😅

by Anonymousreply 8January 15, 2021 12:04 AM
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by Anonymousreply 9January 15, 2021 12:50 AM

OP/R5, may I suggest you get interested in cloud photography? I'm on flickr and follow a bunch of nature photographers, and while I mostly photograph birds because that's what I'm interested in, there are people who photograph mostly butterflies or fungus... or clouds.

I find a lot of the best cloud photographers come from the American Midwest, the land of wide-open spaces and tempermental weather. They can go out on the flat plains where there's officially "nothing there", and come home with astonishing and dramatic photos. Everyone needs a hobby during trying times, and an interest in nature gives allows a person to connect to all that is innocent and beautiful, it's one of the healthiest ways to deal with stress there is. And taking pictures allows you to share the beauty and wonder with others.

by Anonymousreply 10January 15, 2021 1:03 AM

That's amazing to watch. I saw a smaller flock of birds around October in Brooklyn flying in circles in unison. I assumed they were migrating birds, but I couldn't get a close enough look at them to see what they were.

by Anonymousreply 11January 15, 2021 1:22 AM

Thanks r10!

I used to live in New Mexico, and while I didn't realize it at the time, certain types of clouds (cumulus congestus) rise higher in elevation in the arid southwest than in other parts of the country. The next time I visit, I will look out for that. One thing I appreciated about living in the desert was the expanse: coming from the east, I never really got over the amazement that one could "see forever" in New Mexico. I now wonder if those cumulus congestus clouds add to the sense of scale.

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by Anonymousreply 12January 15, 2021 1:40 AM

One summer about 15 years ago, I was on a European trip with my brother and on our first day in Vienna, sitting outdoors for dinner on our first day, we saw a vision like this. We couldn’t stop looking. Ashamedy, we were dining on a Margarita pizza, but it got cold from negligence. We ended up drinking 2 bottles of wine enjoying the the sky show. I haven’t seen anything like that since then.

I’m impressed that I still remember what we had for dinner, a cold Margarita pizza.

by Anonymousreply 13January 15, 2021 1:59 AM

The Portland swifts is a nightly event. The grounds of the school they stay at are packed blanket to blanket with people picnicking, drinking, socializing etc. If you live in that neighborhood it is a nightmare as it is overrun every night for weeks.

by Anonymousreply 14January 15, 2021 2:11 AM

Ooooh birds, birds, birds, don’t you just love that when you’re stoned?!?!

by Anonymousreply 15January 15, 2021 2:41 AM

OP, here's a New Mexico cloud photo. Just because.

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by Anonymousreply 16January 15, 2021 3:02 AM

Thank you r16 :-)

by Anonymousreply 17January 15, 2021 9:13 AM

That's an awesome photo R16.

I've never seen it in person but it was just recently that I came across a video of a murmuration and I was so impressed, fascinated, astonished by it. It is so magical and hypnotic. Really a beautiful, overwhelming thing to watch. I hope to see it in person one day.

Ain't nature somethin'?

by Anonymousreply 18January 15, 2021 11:38 AM

I dislike starlings, r18, because ... well, because they're starlings. But watching the videos of them in formation makes me respect them a lot more than I used it.

by Anonymousreply 19January 15, 2021 11:57 AM

The beautiful flight of the barn owl

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by Anonymousreply 20January 16, 2021 12:43 PM
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