I saw a gazillion snow geese ...
- Jerry Freeman
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I saw a gazillion snow geese ...
Not to be outdone:
This morning on the way to get some work done on my car, I drove past a cornfield and saw thousands of large white birds gathered. Looking for a place to pull over, I realized the field of geese was right next to the home of a friend, so I pulled into her driveway.
I got out of the car and walked quietly towards the geese. When I got to a certain distance, the entire flock, maybe an acre or more of birds, lifted in unison with a great sound of stirring air and honking. They whirled and circled, honking mightily, for several minutes before moving out over the countryside.
Stunning sights and sounds I won't soon forget.
(Simulation; not the actual snow geese I saw this morning.)
(Also a simulation.)
Best wishes,
Jerry
This morning on the way to get some work done on my car, I drove past a cornfield and saw thousands of large white birds gathered. Looking for a place to pull over, I realized the field of geese was right next to the home of a friend, so I pulled into her driveway.
I got out of the car and walked quietly towards the geese. When I got to a certain distance, the entire flock, maybe an acre or more of birds, lifted in unison with a great sound of stirring air and honking. They whirled and circled, honking mightily, for several minutes before moving out over the countryside.
Stunning sights and sounds I won't soon forget.
(Simulation; not the actual snow geese I saw this morning.)
(Also a simulation.)
Best wishes,
Jerry
- djm
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Congrats, Jerry. That truly is a remarkable experience. We get the flocks of snowgeese when they land in the corn fields on the north shore of Lake Erie. They can be heard for miles. To have a whole flight of them wheel directly over your head is stunning.
djm
djm
I'd rather be atop the foothills than beneath them.
- Nanohedron
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*bump* "Hey!" *bump* "Oof."
*bumpflutter* "Watchit, wouldja, pal?"
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*crash* "&*%%@^^!+"
*bumpflutter* "Watchit, wouldja, pal?"
*bump* "How much wing room do you NEED?"
*crash* "&*%%@^^!+"
Last edited by Nanohedron on Sat Mar 11, 2006 12:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
There is a small flock of Tundra Swans hanging around various parts of the Detroit River for the last two weeks on their way north. On my coffee break last week, I watched a Broadwing Hawk circle above the library (on it's northern migration), when it suddenly went into a dive, nailing a skyrat (pidgeon) in mid-air...so cool!
MarkB
MarkB
Everybody has a photographic memory. Some just don't have film.
- brewerpaul
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Here in my branch of Upstate NY we get tons of Canada Geese, but one year about 10 yrs back we also had quite a few Snow Geese. I saw quite a few mixed flocks of the two species, which was a wonderful sight. I seem to recall they had a slightly softer call than the Canada's. Never saw them after that one autumn
- SteveShaw
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There's a winter flock of hundreds of Canada Geese on Bude Marshes nature reserve a couple of miles from me, together with a big flock of lapwings and some curlews and oystercatchers. But the most spectacular aerial display we get in the UK is by common starlings on winter afternoons when they're gathering to roost. At best you can get hundreds of thousands of birds in a flock performing the most amazing balletic displays, as if they were a single organism. They are such a common-or-garden bird seen close up, but en masse they are truly one of the wonders of nature.
Steve
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He jested, quaff'd and swore."
They cut me down and I leapt up high
I am the life that'll never, never die.
I'll live in you if you'll live in me -
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- Walden
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We have Canada geese most of the time. There was a breeding program over around Muskogee. We also have bald eagles, and a bald eagle breeding program not too far away.SteveShaw wrote:There's a winter flock of hundreds of Canada Geese on Bude Marshes nature reserve a couple of miles from me, together with a big flock of lapwings and some curlews and oystercatchers.
Reasonable person
Walden
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Here's what the ads are as of 5:45 pm March 11,2006:
It is neat to see a whole flock doing what it's meant to do.
Wonder what lessons "your team" can learn from geese? How to poop all over? How to fly in unison? How to attack small children? How to look beautiful swimming?Atlantic Goose Management
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Lessons from Geese Video
Motivate and train your team Short Session Starters and more
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Goose Control Products
Drive away nuisance geese with goose repellents from Nixalite
www.nixalite.com
It is neat to see a whole flock doing what it's meant to do.
Charlene
- Mitch
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Re: I saw a gazillion snow geese ...
Your posts always cheer me up! Looking at this screen-filling pic I can get a taste of the joy of being amidst that happy throng!Jerry Freeman wrote:
(Also a simulation.)
Best wishes,
Jerry
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Re: I saw a gazillion snow geese ...
I dare you to try to count them.Mitch wrote:Your posts always cheer me up! Looking at this screen-filling pic I can get a taste of the joy of being amidst that happy throng!Jerry Freeman wrote:
(Also a simulation.)
Best wishes,
Jerry
- Jerry Freeman
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Ye of little faith, the Lessons from Geese are inspirational and for some people life changing. Two friends of mine absolutely loved this list and thank me over and over for it.
Lessons from Geese
FACT 1:
As each goose flaps its wings it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.
LESSON:
People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.
FACT 2:
When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.
LESSON:
If we have as much sense as a goose we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.
FACT 3:
When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies to the point position.
LESSON:
It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other's skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts, talents or resources.
FACT 4:
The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
LESSON:
We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one's heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek.
FACT 5:
When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.
LESSON:
If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.
sources:
http://www.missico.com/personal/thought ... _geese.htm
http://suewidemark.com/lessonsgeese.htm
Notes:
"LESSONS FROM GEESE" was transcribed from a speech given by Angeles Arrien at the 1991 Organizational Development Network and was based on the work of Milton Olson. It circulated to Outward Bound staff throughout the United States. http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/geese.html
But this apparently was not the first documented appearance of the article (which by the way, has been translated into several languages including France, Spanish and Japanese! The first appearance I could trace was as follows (in 1988)
"A Lesson from the Geese" appeared in the November 1988 edition of Nebraska Synod (ELCCA) Update, where it was credited to Milton Olson.
(This is a Lutheran magazine.)
http://www.aikentdc.org/resources/inspi ... /geese.htm
The authors occasionally mentioned are as follows:
By Milton Olson or Ryugen Fisher or Robert McNeish
Lessons from Geese
FACT 1:
As each goose flaps its wings it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.
LESSON:
People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.
FACT 2:
When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.
LESSON:
If we have as much sense as a goose we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.
FACT 3:
When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into formation and another goose flies to the point position.
LESSON:
It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other's skills, capabilities and unique arrangements of gifts, talents or resources.
FACT 4:
The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.
LESSON:
We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one's heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek.
FACT 5:
When a goose gets sick, wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.
LESSON:
If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.
sources:
http://www.missico.com/personal/thought ... _geese.htm
http://suewidemark.com/lessonsgeese.htm
Notes:
"LESSONS FROM GEESE" was transcribed from a speech given by Angeles Arrien at the 1991 Organizational Development Network and was based on the work of Milton Olson. It circulated to Outward Bound staff throughout the United States. http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/geese.html
But this apparently was not the first documented appearance of the article (which by the way, has been translated into several languages including France, Spanish and Japanese! The first appearance I could trace was as follows (in 1988)
"A Lesson from the Geese" appeared in the November 1988 edition of Nebraska Synod (ELCCA) Update, where it was credited to Milton Olson.
(This is a Lutheran magazine.)
http://www.aikentdc.org/resources/inspi ... /geese.htm
The authors occasionally mentioned are as follows:
By Milton Olson or Ryugen Fisher or Robert McNeish