Monday, December 23, 2013

More Messing with Nature….

Check out this goof-ball….

P1000106

December in the Fraser Valley, snow on the ground and we have Hummingbirds. Yes, the nectar loving, insect eating aerial ballistic missiles… not exactly your normal winter bird.

We really haven't figured these guys out, either to0 lazy to head south, or maybe too dumb? We feel sorry for their winter struggle, so out go the feeders.   (Not an easy task given the recent below freezing we’ve been experiencing.  Each feeder, a roll of plumbing heating tape, and a 40watt light bulb suspended underneath.

These are Anna’s Humming birds. Bright and early, the male will set up guard duty several yards off (often guarding multiple feeders), if any other hummingbirds get anywhere near their feeder they head out in hot pursuit.  I figure they burn off more energy guarding the food then what they take in. Daffy little creature…. tougher then they look. 

Monday, December 2, 2013

I want to be a bird….

Pilots would understand the expression “I want to be a bird”. Sounds wonderful, a life spent carving through our vast and spectacular sky’s.

Truth is, nature is cruel. Even the most majestic of our winged friends can meet the harsh reality of life on a very unforgiving planet. Very few of us take the time to appreciate just how fragile our existence can be.

On a recent trip up through the “interior” we came across an example of the stark reality of being a bird.

P1020610

This is a photo of an immature Bald eagle (which we had mistakenly identified as an immature Golden).  Mia had spotted the Bald sitting on a fence post overlooking the North end of Nicola Lake near a view point pull off.  I had missed spotting the bird but Mia convinced me to turn around for a second look.  We made our way back to pull-out and were amazed that the Bald had not left his perch. It soon became clear as to why.

The young Bald had serious wing damage, it became very clear he was unable to fly when eventually we came to0 close and it fluttered down to a lower bench on the rocks below.

We left the bird sitting below on the rock bench and headed down the highway to Kamloops where we stopped in at a raptor rescue facility. They said they would be able to assess the bird if we were to bring it in, so we decided to head back to the birds location to see if he could be captured.

Sure enough we had no trouble finding the eagle as he had made his way back up on the ridge and was eating a road kill deer that had been dumped below the lookout (though the carcass had been pretty much picked clean) .  The eagle could not fly at all but was still plenty mobile. With the aid of a blanket I was able to corral the bird and without too much struggle had it wrapped up for travel. At this point I could see his left wing was in terrible condition.  With the blanket keeping the eagle calm Mia drove back to Kamloops with me holding the eagle on my lap. We dropped the eagle at the refuge and hoped for the best. 

The refuge assessed the eagle and determined that that the right wing had been damaged but was healing… the left was in poor condition and would never be capable of flight again (a veterinarian provided X-ray services to the refuge).  They decided that with no hope of release back into the wild the bird was to be euthanized.  And just like that… this majestic creature was no more. 

It was my guess, the young eagle was taking advantage of the road kill and was injured on a nearby barbed wire fence.  Both Mia and I feel terrible about the fate of the eagle. We are not even sure our interference in natures way was the right thing to do.  What we do know was the bird was dying, unable to hunt and gradually starving to death.  The day after we found it, an artic front blew in and the temperature had plummeted, eventually starvation and shock would have taken its toll.

The death by natural causes or death by human interference… there is nothing humane about the outcome. The reality of being a bird. 

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Local Friends…..

Mia came across some residents of the Columbia Basin.  We like to think of them as the Paraglider Clean Up Crew !….

P1020025

“You know Bob, as much as I like a good paraglider meal, I think that one has gone bad….”

Friday, July 5, 2013

From Something Bad, comes something Good….

Yes, not much in the way of postings over the last year. Plenty of excuses, truth is… I don’t find it that easy to keep daily posts but I thought this recent experience deserved a post.

For those that may not know I spent most of last summer working on a side project for the Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association of Canada. The “project” involved the investigation of a terrible tandem hang gliding tragedy where the passenger was not clipped in (foot launch) and fell to her death. I will not post any details here other then to say that the critical connection to the glider was not made and that this critical step was not checked prior to take-off. My report detailed a suggested change in procedures. The essence of the recommendations, a check list.

The effect of this terrible event, made me reflect on my personal approach to pre-flight checks. Particularly the use of our already “in-place” check list system used for towing. 
Truly, it would be impossible to tow on our platform launch system without hooking in. On the other hand, humans are incredibly skilled at finding new ways to screw up.  The investigation made me more carefully asses potentials and given past experiences I decided that there were two individual mistakes that could find there way up onto the tow rig.

First, helmet chin straps. When its hot as hell and your dealing with the complexity of getting a glider up on the rig in thermic conditions, more then once we have had pilots get into the air without having the chin strap done up (including yours truly). Its not life or death, more a simple inconvenience. Most times, discovered and corrected in the air.

Second, Harness Leg Loops. This is far more serious. The step had always been the pilots responsibility.  The thing with towing, is there is a much wider list of participants (much like a tandem). Distractions can easily conceal obvious omissions.  With the complexity of towing, it is possible that a distracted pilot could miss the step.  Because of this consideration over the winter of 2012-2013 I took some time to amend my towing operation procedures (update the check list, that had worked for well over 14 years). I should also say, making huge long check lists can cause more damage then good.

Simply put, we added “Leg Loops Secure ?” and “helmet buckled ?” to the list thinking it to be almost be redundant.

For the first time since we started towing,  a pilot was preparing for take-off, we slowly worked our way down the list… “leg loops secure”…. shock, the list made its first “save”.  All of findings of my investigation proved just how fragile our personal checks can be. It proved to me, never take anything for granted. We are easily distracted, please take the time to review your own personal safety protocols. Your life could depend on it.

From something bad, comes something good……

P1010863