Virginie Sigonney – Which landing is the best?
An evening pause: Some silliness to start the weekend. As Sigonney notes, “The first one is definitely not the most beautiful but the coolest.”
Hat tip Mike Nelson.
Which landing is the best ?
The first one is definitely not the most beautiful but the coolest 😁
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🎥©️credit reserved to the author pic.twitter.com/nlXKInoc40— Virginie Sigonney 🇫🇷 (@GinieSigonney) June 21, 2026
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They were all good landings.
The first one was by a common loon, with its breeding grounds located throughout most of Canada and Alaska. They’re a diving bird, spending much of its time on water and have been known to go to depths of around 60 metres.
It’s not very graceful on land because its feet are further back on its body than would be the case for other species of waterfowl, so its nests are very close to the shoreline. It is, however, a magnificent sight on a lake and its call is unforgettable.
It’s on the Canadian dollar coin, which we affectionately call the “loonie”.
Oh, that’s why it is called a loonie. I always thought that was a crazy thing to call money (as though “buck” is not), but now it almost comes close to nearly making sense.
I beg to differ on the first landing, though. Always make sure your landing gear are down before landing, otherwise you end up on your belly. That is a case in point. The other birds did much better on that checklist item.
I thought #4 was the best from an airmanship POV. #1, though, was the most fun. I have seen birds fly at low altitude/high speed through thickets with no apparent pursuer. I think birds do have fun with flight; we do.
The loon’s landing reminds me of the water bombers that the Canadian aircraft firm Canadair (now part of Bombardier) built.
Those planes were designed to refill their tanks while flying. They skim the surface of a lake and scoop up the water before flying off, thereby saving time by not having to return to their base each time they’re empty.
Coming back to Canadian currency, we also have a $2 coin. We nickname them “toonies”, partly because the name rhymes with “loonie” but, also, it’s bi-metallic. The centre has a picture of a polar bear.
Loonies aren’t the first time Canada had a one-dollar coins. More than 50 years ago, one-dollar pieces were minted and circulated, along with coins for $0.50.. They were eventually taken out of circulation in either the late 1960s or early ’70s.
There are mini-dramas occurring all around us each day, and when someone stops to take note of them and chooses to share them with us, it can just bring a smile to one’s soul! Thank you for those among us who bring us such simple pleasures among the oh-so-many “irritable” and irritating!
I was actually waiting for ‘Landing Legs Deploy”.
Any one you can walk away from
Or paddle away from.
GEAR UP! GEAR UP!! GEAR UP!!!
#1 was a reincarnated PBY flying-boat pilot
We were in a vacation in Florida staying in a hotel near the Sarasota area (we loved hanging out at Siesta Key). The hotel had a fairly large parking lot, and they’d been required to put in a bunch of rainfall overflow ponds to take care of the run-off from the impermeable surfaces. These were large, rectangular ponds separated by berms about 10 feet high. The tops were kept cleared of growth and had a small gravel roadway around them for maintenance. I used to go for a walk there in the mornings around sunrise just to watch the critters. I never did go down near the water’s edge, being a Midwestern boy worried about snakes. Wrong thing to worry about.
One morning I was down there and a duck came sailing out of the air into the pond around which I was walking. It made a nice two-point landing and water-skied along the pond. Literally out of nowhere a 10-foot alligator popped up right in front of it and snarfed it down in one huge bite. I could see it chomp down and then swallow the entire bird. Then it settled back under the surface, with only two eyes and two nostrils on its nose above the surface.
I was a lot more careful walking around there the next morning.
In St. Petersburg, Fla, one or two dogs would get ‘gatorized’ annually. Many neighborhoods have small retention/park center ponds. There are prominent signs warning of alligators. It seemed that the dog death demographic skewed toward poodles. They are water dogs, after all.