Birds in Flight -- Lots of them!

Winged Migration:
This film has been in my Netflix queue for awhile now and I finally saw it tonight. It's wonderful -- an hour and a half of birds in flight! The filmmakers must have attached tiny cameras to the birds because most of it is shot from the point of view of the airborne bird. It's really amazing to see the landscape below while among migrating geese. One time as my plane was nearing the ground I saw the shadow of a bird flying along with the plane's shadow, speeding over the land. It was weirdly breathtaking, unnatural and beautiful. I suppose I always look at birds flying and imagine being free from all the constraints of the world, our small duties and tedious days. Yet, in this film the narrator begins by saying "This is a story about a promise. A promise to return." And of course these animals repeat their flight patterns down to the smallest landmark, year after year, flying thousands of miles to mate or eat, with no lamentation that their days and years are all the same. My three children fell asleep while watching, of course. I convinced them it would be as cool as Microcosmos (a favorite nature film) but the Enya(?) music and beating wings must have done them in after a long Saturday. I loved it.