Snow Geese Landing

Nikon D1h, 500mm f/4 AF-S, Matrix Metering, 1/800sec, f/6.3, ISO 200, Gitzo 410, Wimberly Sidekick, RAW Format

While Snow Geese look mostly ungainly while landing, they do have they're better moments. When the wind is just right, they can glide to a nice stop without the normally wild gyrations of their wings. In this image, the feathers on the top are being tugged on my "separating" airflow that's going across the wing. Usually, this means in the landing phase the bird is at the maximum performance of his wing. He'll have to flap to further slow down if necessary.