The real 'Eagle Owl' in slow motion...

[mudpuppy]

Couldn't see this posted, so I'll embed this YT video. My wife's uncle sent me this video that was circulating amongst a bunch of his fellow retired pilots. They were all remarking on the amazing flight characteristics of the Eagle Owl. Let it load in 1080p and view full screen if you can.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37MNE8tOBG4

Watch the flare of the wings just as he lands and you'll see the flow of air across the feathers. His focus on landing is intense....imagine the poor mouse that turns and see those talons closing in.

The Heinkel He-219 is well deserving of it's nick-name "Eagle-Owl".
Have a good weekend.
Derek

 

[Thorlifter]

That is awesome!

 

[muller]

Seen something similar in real life play out in front of me. I was driving on a country road near where I live at about 50 mph. A pigeon swooped down across the road about 5 feet in front of my windscreen, closely followed by a hawk. What happened next both amazed and shocked me. Keep in mind, this all happened in about 2 seconds. It looked like the hawk copped at the last second my car was going to hit him. He splayed his wings and tail feathers just like that owl and (this is hard to explain!) went from his body being level to upright, feet out in front of him (hope you can visualise that) and flapped his wings forward, it was like he went from whatever speed he was flying at to zero instantly. His whole body then twisted slightly in mid air so his back was to my windscreen, he folded his wings in and put his head forward, then I hit him. I had braked, but it had all happened so quickly I don't think I'd slowed any. He bounced over the top of my car, I looked in the rearview mirror and saw him hit the ground. Luckily there were no cars behind me. I jammed on and pulled in. I ran back and found him still alive. So I threw my jacket over him and brought him to my vet. The vet checked him out and reckoned he had no broken bones, he kept him for at his surgery for a few days, where he made a full recovery and was released back into the wild.

When you think about it, it's an amazing display of what birds of prey can do in the air. If he'd not been so intent on catching that pigeon and seen my car a bit earlier, he would have been able to come to a complete stop in less than a second and avoided me. It's also an amazing example of how intelligent pigeons are!

 

[Gnomey]

Very cool! 8)

 

[Aaron Brooks Wolters]

Very cool Derek!!!

 

[mudpuppy]

This is just the coolest thing...I posted the link but I just sat and watched it two more times! Glad you all liked it.
Derek

 

[Wayne Little]

That was great!

 

[mikewint]

Agreed, spectacular footage. when it is your entire job/life to be a bird of prey, you had better be very good at it or you starve, no government welfare programs in the wild

 

[RabidAlien]

Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn! That's frikkin cool!

@Mike: Well...you could always go live in a zoo. Pretty much the same concept.

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

Awesome....