The Pregnant Beast

I spent a good part of my day yesterday at the Detroit River Hawk Watch. All in all, it was a fine day. Over 6,000 Turkey Vultures were recorded, plus I saw my first Rough-legged Hawk of the season. A highlight of the day was seeing not one, not two, but four Golden Eagles in a single field of view. Yes, a kettle of Golden Eagles! Sure that was cool, but something else topped off my day.

I saw a Pregnant Beast.

Grumman's TBF Avenger.

The Avenger was a United States Navy torpedo bomber that the replaced the hardly devastating Devastator during the first year of World War II. It saw service in the military for decades after the war.

When first introduced in 1938, the Douglas TBD Devastator was in impressive machine. The first all-metal, low-wing aircraft in the Navy, it had a cruising speed of 128 mph. Many felt it could effectively deliver the 1,000 pound torpedo slung under its belly.

Unfortunately, by the time hostilities broke out in 1941, it was an obsolete piece of trash. By comparison, the Japanese torpedo bomber, codenamed "Kate" by the Allies had a top speed of 235 mph with a 1,700 pound payload. Basically, it was a plane that flew twice as fast and could deliver almost twice as much damage.

The short-comings of the Devastators became horribly apparent during the Battle of Midway in early June, 1942. The sad story of Torpedo Squadron 8 from the USS Hornet illustrates the frustration of war when good men are sent into combat with bad equipment. The slow, under-armed tubs where cut to pieces with ease by Zeros, the superior Japanese fighter. All 15 planes , with two crew each, were lost. One man survived. (He happened to have a front row seat for the destruction of the backbone of the Japanese Navy, but that is a story for another time.)

While a few Avengers were involved at Midway, most aircraft carriers did not carry a full compliment until later in 1942.

What a difference a good plane can make.

With a maximum speed of over 270mph, it could carry a one ton torpedo or 1 ton of bombs in an internal bomb bay. Later modifications allowed for rockets under the wings. The crew of three consisted of a pilot, turret gunner and bombardier. In my photo, you can't see the turret, but you'll notice how the belly of the plane has a peculiar "kink" in it. That location accommodated a .50 caliber machine gun (sometimes referred to as a "stinger") that was used by the bombardier when he was not using the radio or getting ready for the bomb run. Overall, the plane's versatility allowed it to be used in anti-submarine warfare and as a airborne radar station. It's large fuselage could accommodate the now primitive vacuum tubes found in early radar systems. Can you see now why it is called a "Pregnant Beast"? Look at that big belly!

George H. W. Bush, the future American president, was an TBF Avenger pilot. He received a Distinguish Flying Cross for bravely releasing his payload before crashing down in enemy territory on 2 Sep 1944. Apparently, Paul Newman was a turret gunner in the later stages of the war.

It was a flight of Avengers, the now famous Flight 19, that was lost in the Bermuda Triangle during 1945. Oh, the mystery of it all. Not really. They got lost and crashed. Mystery solved.

Almost 10,000 were built, with General Motors taking over the bulk of production from Grumman. 42 are still air worthy.

Only 42 and I saw one of them. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

Bummer of a Birthmark, Hal

"Bummer of a birthmark, Hal"

Anyone who is a fan of the world's greatest cartoonist, Gary Larson, knows that title. The short sentence is spoken by a handsome deer with a giant rack to another handsome deer with an equally impressive sent of antlers. On the chest of the second deer is a giant bulls-eye.

Well, I saw Hal just yesterday. Except in this case, Hal was not a deer. He was a goldfish getting his head torn off by an Osprey.


Now, you might be wondering how in the world such a thing could happen. Gather 'round folks, and let me tell you.

The Osprey is a fish eating raptor. Their entire body design is all about hunting fish. Long legs allow them to have a reach deep into the water. Their feet have giant talons and rough soles for grabbing and holding fish. Their outer toes can be "swing out" such that they have a wider, and therefore better, grip on the slippery fish. (You can do this, too. Imagine your hand is an Osprey's foot and bend you pinky finger out, back, and around so it touches your wrist. Okay...nevermind. You can't do it. Ice should make it better.)

Anyway, how they catch fish is the really cool part. They hover like helicopters and watch the waters below. When they see their prey, their brains function like a tracking computer on a laser-guided bomb. Angle, speed and point of impact are determined and in they go. Most of the time, like most predators, they miss. Every now and then, they score a hit.

What does this have to do with Hal the Goldfish?

Well, every now and then, a goldfish, in the wild, is indeed gold. They can also be brownish and look alot like a Carp. In fact, that happens most of the time. So, if the Osprey is, say, 100' in the air, what do you think would be easier to see in shallow, vegetation-clogged water - dozens of brown carp (or goldfish) or the gold goldfish?

Yeah. Easy, huh?

Sorry Hal. Bummer of a birthmark...

Day Before - Day After - Whatever....

With the chilly weather upon us, I figured it was time to get going on some chili recipes. While I have a few recipes for chili in my books, I thought I would hit the Internet and see what was to be had. I found a website with a recipe called "Day Before Chili."

The premise of the recipe was to whip it up the "day before", let it sit refrigerated overnight and then re-heat. They swore it would be better that way! Well, okay. So I gave it a go!

Now, before I get into this, you might recall a made-for-television movie that aired in 1983 called "The Day After". While I was only 13, I remember some of it. It was about nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States. They didn't get into who started it, because it was more about the families. It won two Emmies and was nominated for a pile more.

What does the Day Before Chili have to do with The Day After?

Both are about a bomb.

All the ingredients sounded good with nothing really crazy or out of this world. Ground beef, kidney beans, red and green peppers, tomatoes, cumin, onions, garlic...you get the point. Plus, it called for 6oz of beer! That is extra points in my book! Throw it together and put it away? I could have just as easily thrown it away. Well, maybe it was not that bad but if I paid for it in a restaurant, I would have been highly disappointed.

It was simply a blah recipe. Unfortunately, it called for over 1 1/2 pounds of beef plus tons of other stuff so I have alot left. Maybe I can caulk my tub with or something.....

Plus, the kitchen was a disaster area when I was done preparing it.

Yeah, you guessed it:

Fallout.

#508

Malt malt malt malt malt malt malt.

I think that sums up beer #508.

All things considered, I am a fan of the Goose Island Beer Company. But, for some reason, the Harvest Ale just doesn't cut it.

Sure, a pale copper color is always inviting. But, the head was not one finger thick and disappeared rather quickly. The malty (have I used that word yet?) aroma was rather overpowering. Taste? Malty and hoppy. Normally, this can be a good thing, but in this case, its not. The carbonation and all was fine, but the hoppiness was just a bit bitter for my liking. (Their own website describes it as a "medium high" bitterness".)

Oh, by the way, guess what the finish was like? Bitter, with a malty undertone....

2 out of 5.

Two Cool

I spent a few hours at the Detroit River Hawk Watch yesterday. There was very fortunate timing on my part as I had the opportunity to view and photograph two cool birds. It was too cool.

In mid-afternoon, Calvin Brennan, the counter for the Detroit River Hawk Watch said some words that hawkwatchers in these parts tend to take very seriously: "See that bird right there?" The simple five-word sentence was accompanied by a simple pointing of the finger off into space. A quick flip of my binoculars and there it was:

The Black Vulture is, for all intents and purposes, an unmistakable bird. First, its black (wow, I'll bet you're stunned at this point, huh?) . There are white panels at the tips of very blocky wings and the tail is very short (almost too short, it seems). All these marks were instantly noted through binoculars despite the estimated altitude of 1,000 feet. As I clicked away with my camera, I realized the combination of angle, sun, and distance were working against me. So, I put down the camera and watched the bird fly off behind us.

Before it disappeared into the great blue yonder, I had a chance to see what I think is the best characteristic of the Black Vulture. You see, most birds of prey seem to understand that they can fly. Be it soaring or diving, many are very accomplished aerialists. Well, Black Vultures act like they don't have a handle on this flight thing. Gliding? Sure. But flapping? No way. Its quick, snappy and frantic. It is almost comical. You can imagine the bird saying to itself: "Ohhhh! Ohh, crap, oh! Ooooh, woah, aaaah, Doh! Oh, whew, okay, I'm back to gliding now..."

Four of us got a chance to see the bird. It was for me, believe it or not, my second Lake Erie Metropark record. I had one on March 10, 2000. Calvin recorded one just a few days ago (October 6th) and he also had one October 2nd, 2003. So, that means four records for Wayne County and 18 overall for the state.

In case you are wondering what the big deal is, it's this: Black Vultures are found in the south. It has been said that their range is an almost perfect match for the Confederacy. So, you can find them with ease in places like Florida, Virginia, Kentucky and Mississippi. They barely creep into southern Ohio but their range along the Atlantic seaboard is pushing further and further north. They now breed in Connecticut.

The other bonus bird of the day was an adult rufous-morph Red-tailed Hawk. A what Red-tailed Hawk? A rufous morph. Red-tailed Hawks can be subdivided into races, some of which, in turn, have a wide variety of appearances. The end result is a huge array of Red-tailed Hawks across the continent.

The bird shown above on the right is the Redtail (the other is a Turkey Vulture). Yes, my photo is poor, but you can certainly see that is is not a "normal" Red-tailed Hawk. While the tail was red (trust me), you can certainly see the belly is totally dark while the upper chest is somewhat lighter. The flight feathers are whitish while the underwing coverts are dark. Now, if you had the bird in your hand, sure, you could see bands on the tail and barring on the flight feathers. Also, what appears to be dark or black in the photo is really a deep brown while the breast is rufous (hence the name).

This is a classic example of what hawkwatching can be like: it is what you see, not what is. That sounds very Jedi, doesn't it?