Must Be September

[toadbriar]

well I mean it should be easy.... "south" is sorta all "downhill" isn't it?

 

[gryeyes]

Oh, this is funny! I just thought it was yet another goosey thing, didn't even consider the season.

My Toulouse pair use my driveway as a take-off strip; apparently they need just a leetle bit more of a runway to go aloft (or so they seem to think). They've tried the flat portion, both directions. Then they tried the inclined section, both up and down. They nearly skid into the gate at the bottom of the driveway when they run DOWN the incline.

 

[zzGypsy]

any pilots here?
there's a thing pilots do when they're checking their plane before take off... it's called engine check and run-up. basically they park near the end of the runway and stand on the brakes while reving the engines... it lets them check the engine behavior and sound before they trust their lives to it.
they do other things for practice too, like aborted takeoffs, where they start a takeoff and then shut it down before they get the wheels off the ground, and touch-and-gos where they come in like they're going land, touch their wheels down, then take off again without ever stopping.

see, I thought I had three brown chinese and one african... but apparently I've got pilot geese.

so far they're doing the engine check and run-up, where they stand straight up and flap hard but don't go anywhere, and the aborted takeoffs, where they charge down my run(drive)way flapping for all they're worth, then shut it down again. occasionally they'll get enough air to have to run on their tip toes, but so far, no actual flights. I figure any day now I'm going to look out my window and see them practicing their touch-and-gos...

 

[buffbeauty]

Not a pilot, but great analogy. Love it. Do you happen to follow the whooping crane flights (on line) each year that they following down with the planes and all?? My mom does and is a donator. Great project!!

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
thanks! don't know about the project... more info?
I do remember a movie made years ago about the folks who were trying to return them to the wild and teaching them to migrate because they'd fly with their "parent"s small plane. that was cool.

 

[birdboy508]

thats like the movie fly away home.

 

[buffbeauty]

Quote:
thanks! don't know about the project... more info?
I do remember a movie made years ago about the folks who were trying to return them to the wild and teaching them to migrate because they'd fly with their "parent"s small plane. that was cool.

Here's the link to the project site.
http://www.operationmigration.org/
Fly away home was geese I think. I haven't researched this project much but mom is crazy about it. It's a pretty big project from what I understand. Very neat!! I just don't have time for any other interests!!

 

[SouthernPride]

Here's a video of our flying Chinese, it is taken with my phone so it is not zoomed in like I would have liked it to be. She is the one on the left at first then on the left on landing.

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[TennesseeTruly]

Not only are our geese trying to fly but the Spring babies are all mating!!! 3am I was screaming out my bedroom window if they didn't knock off all the racket, we were having roasted goose for dinner and I wasn't kidding this time.

 

[mominoz]

My Tufted buffs(4) have been doing their runway flop too. It is slightly downhill from their aviary area to my house with my horse arena(electric roped w/4 strands, but no power) on one side , the dogfenced yard 4 ft on the other and only about 30 ft X 75 to clear, the rest of the pastures have trees or fences to interupt them. But they are like dodo birds, they may get a couple feet up, then tilt and one always manages to crash into the the little garden area fence that is 2 ft tall with 2 strand s above it and some bushes along the outside. Once in a while one gets inside the fence and nibbles my garden.... The young Shetland geese boys(4) and one tufted buff girl, are flapping, 4 months old, but I pinioned them as babies, so lets see if it worked (I also pinioned 9 mini-ducks , but one was flying 5 feet up in their aviary today

I have been trimming a wing on the Buffs, as we have loose dogs if they get over the 4 ft. fence and it is down a hill if they get lucky....