War Bird: B-17 Boeing Fortress

10/02/2019:  

For those who love aviation and enjoy seeing the old WWII “war birds” at various flyovers, static displays, or at airshows, the inherent danger involved with these marvelous but aging aircraft came true today at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut.   

The B-17 Boeing Fortress, tail number 231909, sponsored by "Wings of Freedom Tour," had an inflight emergency, while carrying paying enthusiasts on a thirty-minute flight, which resulted in a crash at Bradley International Airport.  Unfortunately, at least seven passengers and aircrew were killed and another seven were injured. 

    

Over the past several years I had the pleasure of photographing the old war bird at Palomar Airport, Carlsbad, CA while on display.  To hear the deep-throated roar of the four reciprocating engines as the big blades cut through the air as the B-17 passed overhead was thrilling.   Seeing this aircraft and knowing that men and women of the greatest generation designed, manufactured and then flew these machines during World War II gave me a great amount of respect and reverence for the aircraft and those who made it happen.  

And now, like the passing of many old vets, this veteran aircraft is now history.  What caused the crash, who knows?  Mechanical, of course; fatigue? Loss of power?  Something didn’t go right and listening to the pilot’s radio transmission just before the crash didn’t betray anything unusual... total professionalism to the end.   Sad day for those who perished and were injured doing what they loved.

Here are some of my images from the visits to Palomar Airport.

The Babies

There it was, such a tiny nest precariously perched on a small decorative light cord covered above only with the cross-stitched sunscreen on a pergola in the back yard.  The tiny darting bird, wings furiously slapping air, is building a crude but perfectly engineered bed using spider silk and dull green lichen in which to lay two jelly bean-sized eggs.  

Within 3 weeks, little nestlings, their heads with spike-like hair on naked bodies bob and weave above the rim of the nest with beaks wide open and eyes clamped shut.

 

The feeding frenzy begins as the mother, an Anna Hummingbird, spends much of her time looking and foraging for insects and insect eggs found in local trees and on the ground.  Trip after trip, she makes, as she dutifully feeds her two babies the nectar and insects which she has ingested, only to regurgitate it deep into their crops. 

 

They grow quickly, new feathers appear and their beaks sharpen.  And they share the same small space, moving in unison for a comfortable spot.  The mother continues without hesitation to continue her sole purpose, and that is the constant feeding of her babies.

 

Eventually, it is time to leave the nest and face their world.  One at a time they each spend time flapping their wings, building up the muscles and tendons which will transform them into darting, hovering, zipping hummingbird.     

One is left and for another day she works her wings, practicing hard for the moment of lift off!.  After a long period of flapping, she lays down across the nest, pooped.  Eventually, she recovers and the next morning, she has left the nest.  

Walking Wild

Walking Wild:

As real-estate developments swallow up the wild and native lands in my neighborhood to build new homes and tilt-up structures housing small commercial enterprises, the canyons and some green spaces are the last remaining habitats for native animal species  which are being pushed further into cramped spaces. 

One of the negative results of over-development (and overcrowding) is native animals spilling out into the streets and parks of the neighborhoods foraging for food and ranging in the area.  Humans and their pets have learned to cohabitate with the wild kingdom in their own backyards.

This interaction often results in the human’s pets becoming the food for the hungry and displaced; sometimes, the wild animals hang out in the neighbor because they are aware of a continuing source of food without ranging and looking for it. 

Recently, I heard that there was a bobcat hanging in the neighborhood.  So, I decided to purchase a Stealthcam camera and put it along the trails in the neighborhood to confirm the rumor.  I wasn’t disappointed in what I found: 

 This is a bobcat walking on the trail after dark but caught on infrared mode.

 

 The bobcat walking toward the camera captured at night on infrared mode.

I also discovered the “coyote highway!”  I was stunned at how many were walking just feet from the backyards in the neighborhood – brazen, big, yet beautiful.  Lots of neighbors have lost pets to these voracious carnivores. 

Man and nature co-existing right in my backyard (Carlsbad, CA.)