Will never look at birds swimming the same again. (Why Do Ducks Get in a Row?)
Note:
Get your ducks in a row…
June 7, 2022 by 8 Comments
Why Do Ducks Get in a Row?
June 7, 2022 by 21 Comments
The River Thames is beautiful in early summer, and the stretch just upstream of central London is full of birds: motionless herons watching for fish, bustling moorhens poking around the submerged plants, and watchful flocks of preening swans. But as my canoe club paddles along the river, we’re always looking out for our clear favorites: the mother ducks with a fluffy cluster of ducklings tagging along behind.
When they’re lingering at the shore, it all looks slightly chaotic, with baby birds dawdling and exploring as the mother duck keeps an eye on them. But when it’s time to move on, chaos shifts into order as the ducklings line up behind the adult and the convoy moves off together quickly and in perfect formation. It’s mesmerizing to watch, and it’s not accidental. This is all about saving energy.
Swimming is hard work, because water is dense and slightly viscous. At the surface, a large part of the resistance to movement comes from the waves that are produced behind whatever is moving: its wake. This is the familiar wedge-shaped wave pattern that we see behind ships, canoes and ducks alike, and all of those waves carry energy. If you move along the water surface, those waves are always continually generated and so the swimmer needs to put in enough energy to create them. This energy cost is felt as a resistance to movement. There’s also resistance because the water touching the ship or duck is pulled along too, creating additional drag. [Read more…]
Walking. With Apophenia.
May 13, 2022 by 32 Comments
56° F. Heavy fog.
Daybreak walk at Cove Island Park. 723 consecutive (almost) days. Like in a row.
I’ve finished Amy Liptrot’s book “The Instant.” A book where I wasn’t feeling it, not feeling it, nothing here, time to put this down, wait now, here’s a line, and now two, and then down the chute we go on the luge track. Reminds me of a tweet by Tracie Collier after reading “Bomb Shelter” by Mary Laura Philpott: “She writes in a way that makes me want to hurl my laptop over a cliff.”
Back to Liptrot. Who knew that I had Apophenia. Well, hold on. It’s not even clear that I’m adept at Apophenia. I’m probably better assessed by a psychologist (if I had one), as a lame, half-assed Apopheniac. But we digress. Here’s Liptrot:
“Apophenia is the tendency to find patterns. It can be a disorder but, for me, finding patterns is sustaining. Unbidden, certain objects glow with relevance. I find the moon everywhere. This heart-shaped box contains not just a few shells but all the weeks and conversations and regrets of a friendship. We are meaning-making machines. I use all these little personal myths and totems to hold myself together: things to search for when I’m faced with overwhelming choice and freedom.”
I use all these little totems to (try to) hold myself together. Yep. About right.
I’ve turned right at the Park, walking counterclockwise. Noting that I’m walking counterclockwise. Again. Did you know that you always walk counterclockwise around the park? 723 days, and you walk in the same direction every time.
I keep walking.
Have you ever seen anyone else walking clockwise in the park? Come to think of it I have not. Not one time? Not one time. Maybe because you are a half-assed Apopheniac.
I stop walking. [Read more…]
Monday Morning Wake Up Call
November 23, 2020 by 29 Comments
Rain? Wet? Puddles? Bring it on…
DK. Daybreak. November 23, 2020. 7:00 to 7:30 am. 57° F and Rain. Cove Island Park, Stamford CT
Walking. In Search of my Spirit Bird.
July 10, 2020 by 42 Comments
4:25 am. I’m out the door. Dark Sky app recap: 74° F, 100% humidity, cloud cover 89%.
It’s dark. A wafer thin haze hangs below the street lamps.
I walk.
A firefly flickers, gets caught up in a light wind gust, and disappears. And at that moment, unexplainably so, I felt Small, Little, against the backdrop of the World. This flickering, illuminating, little miracle. “What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.” (Crowfoot, the Blackfoot warrior, 1890)
Me and Crowfoot? Crowfoot and me? Crowfoot and I? Oh, for God Sake, let it go.
I walk.
Same route. 5-mile loop. Since May 5th, daily, without interruption. Same camera bag sling, slung over my right shoulder, camera affixed with strap to right wrist. The Autonoman.
Raccoon up ahead, picking away at the remains of road kill. He skitters away as I approach. Sprinkler systems fire off at 4:30 am, hissing as water hits the street.
I walk.
I note the silence. This narrow slice of time, before daybreak. Nocturnal creatures and me. Afraid of horror movies, the dark and tripping in a pothole and taking a header, I march through the suburban streets on my way to the waterfront.
I take my first shots of The Cove, high tide. And 78 additional shots that morning. Little did I know, that 90 minutes later I would learn that all but 10 photos, would be blurry because of some dial I inadvertently depressed. Fuming, at my desk panning through the photos, rubbing my eyes, thinking it’s my f*cking eyes going, because it just can’t be this expensive camera. I move closer to the screen. It’s not my eyes. My God. You are an Amateur. What a waste. [Read more…]
Zen Man and his Ducks
January 15, 2013 by 29 Comments
I’ve been following Manoli Rizo‘s photography blog for some time…admiring her work. I just loved her most recent post.
This man. His “herd.” The march in unison. His peace, pride and contentment.
Manoli, hats off to you. You’ve done it again.
Take a minute and hit this link and pan through Manoli’s photos of this man and his family. (And Foreign Language competency anyone? If someone could translate the intro of the post, I’d be grateful)
Life in the fast lane…
September 5, 2012 by 37 Comments
56 second video clip. Yet it packs a punch above (way above) its weight class.
Will you avert your eyes?
Will you grimace?
Will you hold your breath?
Did you breathe a sigh of relief when it ended?
I bet money the answer is yes to all. Don’t take the wager. I only bet when I know I will win. 🙂
T.G.I.F.: I’m so happy it’s Friday!
June 15, 2012 by 17 Comments
Source: bradybrereton via a-n-i-m-a-l-p-l-a-n-e-t. The Blue-footed Booby is a long winged tropical seabird found in subtropical islands off the Pacific Ocean, the Galapagos Islands and Ecuador. They have excellent binocular vision. The Blue-footed Booby has permanently closed nostrils made for diving. They breathe through the corners of their mouths. Their feet range from a pale turquoise to a deep aquamarine.
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Live & Learn 