When I watched swimming at the Summer Olympic Games in years past, I always scratched my head a bit at the timing. I found it really hard to believe that they could time the event to the hundredth of a second. Surely, they were just making it up.
This was in the days before I began photographing birds. And, in the days before I had a camera which could record images at ten photos per second.
These days, I find myself marveling at how much can happen in on second. The animation above takes place over 1.2 seconds. In this interval, the Great Blue Heron has gone from a placid standing position to taking flight and completely leaving the frame.
What I find amazing is the sheer power of the thrust of the Heron's wings. You can see the force being exerted as the bird takes flight.
The first frame below shows the Heron at rest. Next is the first part of the crouch. The final frame shows the bird in flight one-half second later.
Amazing things can happen in less than a second.
