[Birdtalk] Raptor Force on PBS

[John Morgan]

James,
Reason I thought I might miss it was because of running to St. George late Friday. Actually I WAS able to see it at a hotel (in SD, not HD). Incredible! I do have Comcast HD at home, but no way to capture or replay and HD signal. I plan to order the  DVD from PBS when it releases. Such an excellent show, considering raptors are among my favorites. That stoop attack on the Red Tailed Hawk that was straying too close to the aerie blew my mind! The Red Tail lost 20' of altitude (and was pitched way forward from the impact) while trying to figure what had hit him/her! Bet it had a headache after that.

The camera on the bird's back was an OK idea IMO, but wouldn't it be amazing to actually see what the Falcon sees? That notion of being able to elongate the retina to approximate a telephoto lens (change focal plane) was something I had never heard of. The nostril cones that have shown up in the SR-71's design, and other features our engineers have borrowed from falcons...wasn't that cool! The spiraling to allow one eye to focus on the prey....another astounding bit of info. Wow, I was blown away. You? I learned too that stoops sometimes result in a catch, not just an explosive hit and an afterward retrieval. I'd seen something years ago that showed a hit, then quick aerial manuevers to make the aerial catch on a pigeon.

It is a little tough to watch life end so suddenly/violently for the prey. My main interest is in the flying abilities and the tool set nature has provided.

Many thanks to Kris Purdy for announcing this show!!
John
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: James D. McIntyre 
  To: 'John Morgan' ; BIRDTALK 
  Sent: Friday, February 23, 2007 11:21 PM
  Subject: RE: [Birdtalk] Raptor Force on PBS


  John:



  The 1-hour NATURE program RAPTOR FORCE was shown several times on KUED Channel 7.2 (#658) this week in HD at 1080i.  It's an excellent film and shows remarkable shots of falconers' raptors taking prey.  That may not appeal to all.  It also showed amazing shots of Peregrines in stoops and explained why they fly a circular rather than a straight line path.



  The film also shows how a small camera was attached to the back of a Red-tailed Hawk by a man named Robert MacIntyre to show what it actually sees in flight.  Members of this clan are very clever you know. J



  RAPTOR FORCE was actually shown tonight on Channel 7 at 9 p.m. before I saw your message.  But the good news is it will be rebroadcast on regular KUED Channel 7 and KUED Plus Channel 7.3 on Sunday Feb 25 at 1:00 a.m. (see below).  So there are still opportunities to view or tape the program.
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