Thursday
Feb022012
Leader of the Pack
February 2, 2012 
At first - there was nothing. A river. A riverbank. An uninspiring ky of endless grey. Everywhere I looked - up down and under and behind - there was no life...no color. Nothing.
And then - it happened. Out of nowhere they appeared. First one...and then the other three. One swooped up and into the sky...the others followed. That same one - then - dipped down..and then up and then down and then up again. All in ther right place and in their just right line - the others did exactly the same.
I wondered about what it was he was doing? What game - perhaps - he was playing? Was he trying to get away and ahead of his pack? Was he trying to disappear from sight? Out of view?
Or - was he leading....knowing that the others would follow?
Reader Comments (30)
always a delight to pause with your blog and sit in peace with nature.
Nice action. I like the shadows.
I love that little guy bringing up the rear. :)
It reminds me of the book Jonathan Livingstone Seagul. So perhaps he was teaching them :-)
It reminds me of one quote in the book we are reading in the Vision and Verb Book Club ...“What is a teacher? I'll tell you: it isn't someone who teaches something, but someone who inspires the student to give of her best in order to discover what she already knows.” Paulo Coelho, The Witch of Portobello...
Beautiful and inspiring :-)
Chef de "filé"... en quelque sorte, un leader dans les airs.
I really like this. Those are my favorite ducks. I spend a long time watching them on the river. They float down through a half-mile riffle feeding, then fly back up to do it all over again. I love the whistling sound of their wings.
Not sure if he's the leader or if just found out it's time to travel on while the others just wanted some more rest. An uplifting image, Marcie!
All the best & safe travels, Fritsch.
of to other places, warmer places... lead the way, I will follow too
Beautiful!
Oh those white markings on these lovely birds are brilliant!!
Nice shot . Specially the blur background made it more beautiful and the color tone is wonderful .
Nice shot . Specially the blur background made it more beautiful and the color tone is wonderful .
cool title and excellent capture
Marcie - what a wonderful sense of motion, of flying and swooping, you have created with this image. Such lovely subtle tones. And another shot, similar to so many of your others, that provided great inspiration for my "horizontal bands" series.
"Are you SURE this is the right river?"
Wonderful photo . . .
I so the little guy at the end! Like he's learning and following!
Oops...fingers too fast. I so LOVE the little guy at the end! (sorry!)
Very nice picture!
Lovely as always.
Love it, Marcie, fine shot!
Are you sure of the species? Look more like Buffleheads to me??
A really beautiful photograph Marcie!
Love the softness and tones.
You have a beautiful weekend my Friend!
xo
I like the sharpness of the birds against the panning blur of the background.
A beautiful photograph Marcie!
I love watching the birds fly in their single lines ... the other night on the beach at sunset, there must have been over a hundred cormorants chasing across the sky ... one right after another ... amazing sight!
always love these landing shots
You can find beauty in almost any place!!
cool story for this shot.. :) nicely captured..
Or, were his followers part of the push forward? Are they part of what drives the leader to be ever seeking new twists and turns, swoops and swallows? The fun, the spirit, the joy of it, shared! There's seems certainly to be a magic that lives between the two - leader and followers - in flight.. Once again, Miss Marcie - you've got me thinking!