When the light is right, it’s easy to see what a colorful fellow he really is. This is, sadly, a low-res frame from a video. What you can’t see is how slowly he rises, it was a hover combined with a liftoff. He watched the camera the whole time.

They’re still coming by to check and peer in the window, wondering where all the food went. The sparrows are coming in too, and as soon as I know they’ve gone to greener pastures, the food will return to the table.

Meanwhile, I’m thinking I will get much better photos by simply moving my work gear outside. Many of the birds are half-tame by now. We have lots of time to mull this over since the sparrows know a good thing when they see one, and are probably not anxious to leave.

The baby was in the raised beds, enjoying a morning shower. The parents were frantic in the oaks above, screaming while trying to gain a foothold on the tips of the branches that didn’t really support their weight well.

I thought it was another photo op.

As soon as I got out there with the tripod, one dove at me. Then the other parent came from another direction. Meanwhile, the baby found the fence to be a formidable obstacle. When I say baby, I mean fledgling, and full-sized at that. I crept closer.

In the past, I’ve had parent crows swoop down before. One year, a fledgling was down somewhere in the neighborhood. To make sure no human would bother it, Mom and Pop attacked everyone out for a walk. This went on for several days.

The morning’s fledgling was unnerved by the sight of the tripod and camera plus moving human. Suddenly, it had the ‘Oh, right, I can fly’ moment, and took off for the top of the fence. The parents went beserk, unsure of whether to keep going after me or to encourage their baby.

Not a single shot did I manage to get. But I am wide awake.

For such a small bird, it made a very loud thump on the window. It didn’t seem to be moving as it lay on the ground. When I picked it up, it stretched out a wing stiffly. Oh no, I thought, a broken wing. Its tiny feet couldn’t get a grip in my palm so I set it in some veronica. And then of course, my main instincts kicked in, and I went inside for the tripod.

I managed to get a few shots taken. Suddenly, the eyes brightened, the heartrate quickened, and it went straight up in the oak tree. What a recovery!

I thought I was shooting the hawk in the branches still, and was surprised to see this. Looks like I’ll be studying up on how to take crisp photos of birds in flight.

From the Beeb: You’re not gonna believe this one.

Via the Museum of Hoaxes. Oh yeah, Happy April Fool’s to you too!

If the future isn’t here now, it’s coming very soon. The price? Why, compared to the Mercedes SLR McLaren (just under a cool half mil), it’s a steal. While some might argue that the Mercedes does indeed fly, we are talking flight in the aeronautical sense.

Buyers are apparently lining up. In case you’re reaching for your wallet, make sure you have a pilot’s license.

Warm and homey, tender, hokey, familiar as an old friend.

The stew as pretty good too.

The film is about dreams and the stubbornness of dreamers. So much of the real world wants to destroy dreams and those who have them. Or else ridicule or otherwise discourage. Why is that?

The hawk up in the redwood was annoyed by the crow. It took off, making wide sweeps as the crow kept up its harassment.

It reminded me a bit of the Blue Angels but much grander and silent.

There we were, along with a few other forlorn passengers, waiting at the emptied carousel. Some had experienced this before and headed grimly for the lost baggage room. We lined up behind them. Two had one, one had none, we were minus one, and the heavily-tattooed lady had no child seat for her baby. A person with body art can look madder than a person without.

Luckily, our essentials (laptops, cameras) were in carry-ons. Would we ever see the bag again? The efficient woman behind the desk assured us that when they found the bag, it would be delivered to our door.

Back home, we counted our blessings: we were back in California, steaks were on the menu and we didn’t have to go looking for hotel staff in order to obtain toilet paper and tissues with a mixture of sign language and charades. If we had lost the bag forever, the bright side was that we could go shop for clothes. But we had no toothbrushes.

Just now, six hours after we left the airport, a clatter and rumbling approached the front door. Who could it be but a family member’s friend bringing two go-karts and a canoe with paddles? Nah. That’s only what it sounded like.

It was our suitcase, presented with a flourish and a smile.

Thanks, Alaska Air. Your man also told us we left the overhead light on in the car, a mistake that left us with a dead battery in a different car not long ago.

A Saudi Arabian Airlines flight was disrupted when dozens of rodents escaped from a passenger’s bag, and began dropping on the heads of other passengers. Did he get through security by disguising them as lumps of coal? See previous post. Or by cooling them into a state of torpor? See post before previous. Has he been reading my blog?

They say that war drives technology. Sometimes it does, and sometimes it doesn’t. In the case of the bat bombs, there were a few problems in the plan, just as in the Russian anti-tank dog project discussed earlier.

Yes, I wish I had a more powerful lens or two. The geese have been flying over too, not quite as noisy as these guys though.

An overcast day in SF can be better than a sunny day elsewhere.

That’s the name given by U.S. intelligence to the Russian ekranoplan, a behemoth of a plane based in the Caspian Sea during the Cold War. It reportedly had the capacity to carry a staggering 1000 tons, and relied on the ground effect for flight.

Thanks to Google Earth, the folks at The Register have spotted a Chinese Sea Monster. Also discussed is the monstrous Boeing Pelican.

The obligatory video (lengthy) at YouTube is here.

A compelling one today of smoke flares and wingtip vortices.

Or what happens if a terrorist is asked to take a sip or two of his milk or juice in front of airport security.

Their plans for the widebody jet are highly unusual, but now the aviation designer hired for the job has been released, with much talk of lawsuits.

At the Conservatory of Flowers in SF yesterday, butterflies were clinging to the windows as visitors streamed in and out of their controlled environment. Many of the insects had beaten-up wings.

It has been a long, racket-filled day of workers repairing fences. After a quiet dinner, I settled down for some dessert (an orange, nothing to get excited about) when I heard what sounded like a team of roof rats with high heels walking around on the patio. After a bit, it sounded like a few had managed to get inside. Very soon, the phone would ring and I would hear a hollow but ominous squeaking at the other end.

But then something very large flew across the room to the lamp, bounced off and careened to a wall, bounced off, went to the window, bounced . . . well, you get the idea. I didn’t get a good look, but went outside, because it’s not everyday you see a bunch of rats wearing clackety heels. The insect came outside as well. When I went in the garage, it followed, throwing itself against surfaces.

Perhaps it was the gnome, angry that I’d written of its supposed theft of apricots.

Greek and Turkish pilots have a history of airspace disagreements. This time, the dispute ended in the crash of both F-16s. The Turkish pilot has been rescued, but refused to climb aboard the Greek rescue helicopter.

The Raptor is a $134 million fighter jet. The canopy was stuck in the locked position. The pilot kept trying to open it. After five hours, a ground crew approached with the chainsaw.

Five hours is a long time, but apparently there were consultations between Lockheed Martin and Langley AFB regarding the best way to deal with the problem.

Pictures can be seen here.

Remember the scene in Top Gun when Goose slams into his jet canopy when he ejects? Irate fans with technical knowledge have protested that such a thing could never happen.

The flight was headed to Dublin, diverted to Prestwick in Scotland, now is being escorted by a fighter jet. Via Briefing.com and BBC news.

Polish sausages and vegetable soup from the other day. Getting a bit tired of stew and soup weather, grumble, mutter.

I was smart enough not to mix dinner with the movie. After a very long work week, a thriller was just what was needed, but I didn’t expect quite this level of suspense.

If you need to forget your troubles for a while, catch Jodie looking for her lost child. And don’t even think about getting in her way.

This one is from China. It’s the creation of Professor Yan Lei of Peking University, and is powered by the sun. When will it be ready for serious flight? Look for it in a couple of years.

Back in January, I posted about Geoff Hatton’s saucer.

Tony Blair’s plane was heading down the runway, seconds before takeoff. There was a loud noise, then sparks flew from the malfunctioning engine. Flight cancelled.

The aging DC-8 is not what Blair normally takes, but apparently, since the days of Thatcher, PMs choose to use somewhat modest means of flight rather than invoke the wrath of taxpayers.

One is nicknamed ‘Whale’, one looks like a flying hamburger.

There’s no predicting who will get sick in space. Seasoned test pilots who are free from nausea during maneuvers in jets will suffer terribly once in space.

It is obvious to the modern eye that the seaplane had design issues. Not only was it way too heavy, but it also lacked fuel efficiency.

The first link shares a page with a very funny teaser sequence of a granny and her mastiff for a video clips service.

Described as SUVs with wings, the little jets cost half as much as business jets. The worry among major airlines is that before long, these affordable planes will jam up the airspace around major cities.

A Falcon Hypersonic Test Vehicle, whose speeds will range from 6,000 to 15,000 mph at altitudes of 100,000 to 150,000 feet will have a test flight in September 2007.

It’s Monday. I’m having trouble comprehending such numbers.

Four nations stand behind it - Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Here’s a picture gallery, and at this site, there are mission games and a chance to design and test your own jet.

GFS Projects, headed by Hatton, has produced an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that has piqued the interest of U.S. defense personnel.

At the GFS site, there is a video of this remarkable craft.

Don’t mess with the pilots or crews of Monarch Airlines.

A bat’s wing bones are flat and bendy, and the skin stretches, changing shape with each wingbeat. The bones differ markedly from those of birds. Researchers hope to apply some of nature’s design to future aircraft wings.

Well, the first leg of the journey anyway. Do I sense a children’s book coming up?

Lots of geese flying by this morning, much lower than last time and heading east. I wonder if they’re landing at the marshlands at the edge of town.

It was a publicity stunt, but rather a stunning one all the same. I wonder if the list of ten most dangerous foods to eat in the car apply to the cockpit as well.

I am making chicken pot pie, which is labor-intensive, but the skies are what the kids and I used to call ‘Grandfather Twilight’ after reading the book.

I’ve seen small v-formations before, but nothing on this scale.

I was trying for a picture of the pink clouds when they happened by, honking.

With a little extra cap as a bonus.

A photographer caught an F/A-18 Hornet as it produced a condensation cloud. More on such clouds in an earlier post about the Prandtl-Glauert singularity.

NASA engineers extend the range of UAVs (unmanned air vehicles) by taking inspiration from hawks and other birds who utilize thermals to their advantage. By programming the UAVs to sense the presence of these columns of warm air, an extra hour was added to their flying time.

The project was named for the bird that feeds on insects found in thermals.

In Moscow, it was announced that the patron saint of nuclear bombers is Admiral Fyodor Ushakov, who never lost a battle.

A description of the Yamato’s part in the Ten-Go operation of the war is here, and a PBS Nova slideshow of the stages of its sinking is here. (Click on ‘launch slide show’.)

A navigator in a WC-130 took pictures of storms he has flown through.

The Mississippi Delta was shining like a National guitar.

I remember my first flight out of Memphis, my first flight anywhere, actually. The meal included a little miniature container that was a mystery. Thinking it to be mayonnaise, I held it tightly and opened the little lid.

Out poured coffee creamer. The gentleman seated next to me, to his credit, did not laugh at an obvious hayseed. He helped me clean it up, and diverted my attention elsewhere.

I’ve never forgotten.

‘Yeah, it’s me, honey. At about 35,000 ft now, nothing to eat yet. Would you kiss Stacy bye for me, I dashed out so quickly. Hmmm. It may be in the top drawer. What’s that? Breaking up a bit? I can hear you just fine. I’ll speak louder. Some turbulence now, dear. Seat is shaking. Nothing to worry about. Wait. The bastard behind me is kicking my seat. Damn. What a rude jerk.

Users of the new Aviation Week card will have unique rewards options. The space and flight-related choices include aerial combat in Arizona, zero gravity in a 727 over the Gulf of Mexico, a Mig-29 Supersonic hop over Moscow, jet training in an L-39 over the Atlantic. And more.

His punishment was 30 days, but he felt it was worth the trouble.