What’s that expression about how the Heron flies?

No, that’s not right … it’s “How the Osprey flies…”

Crow! That’s it! It’s “How the Crow flies”!

In aerodynamics, drag is directly related to “frontal area”, or how much surface area is presented to the oncoming air. Birds don’t have a lot of frontal area in their flight configuration:

The Osprey are nesting on top of the intake structure. Best of luck to ’em!

I’m pretty sure this is a Bonaparte’s Gull, found hangin’ out near the dam, and probably on her way to breeding grounds, as they’re considered transients in this area:

(as usual, click on a picture to get to a higher-resolution version)