Amateur photographer Vincent Cornelissen took a picture of a bean goose flying upside down near the Dutch town of Arnhem earlier this year.
The goose had rotated its body 180 degrees, an act referred to as “whiffing.” This acrobatic maneuver, that looks like a leaf in free fall, can be used to evade predators but geese have also been known to strike this pose when opting for a longer, slower descent from the sky to better observe the area.
Whiffling is exhibited by various species including Lesser yellowlegs, the black-tailed godwit, the northern lapwing, pink-footed geese and bean geese.
Cornelissen said he received thousands of messages and comments from people all around the world who were wondering why the goose would fly like that.
Cornelissen shared the photo on his Facebook page and caught the attention of academics and more than 10,000 followers. “There was even a professor from Istanbul University who edited my photo with arrows to teach his students about aerodynamics,“ he said.
Taking pictures has been a great source of fascination for Cornelissen and even when he was a kid, before his famous snap, taking challenging photographs of birds was a passion. “I always say that to find a bird and photograph it in a special way is incredibly satisfying and relaxing,” he said.
The weather was bad, so he put on his waterproofs and sat with his back against a tree looking over a lake. Cornelissen said that this picture was particularly challenging.
Cornelissen first saw three geese flying in a straight line, but one of them was struggling to keep up and stay within the line. After noticing its strange behavior, he started taking pictures of the goose. He said that he immediately realized he had captured something special, but at the same time, he was afraid that no one would believe him. The image looked like it was edited in Photoshop.
Although upside-down flying is a known phenomenon, people did accuse him of posting a fake picture.
Cornelissen got a message from a Dutchman who lives in Norway and knew this phenomenon. He lives next to a lake and regularly sees geese doing this. There is even a name for it: a whiffling goose.
Lars Soerink, a wildlife photographer and conservation science communicator for Bird Protection Netherlands, said the goose may be trying to learn new tricks. “Once young geese have mastered flying, they start to see what is possible and how far they can go,” Soerink said.
But Soerink also suggested that the goose may have been simply showing off to brag to its peers.
Parallels can be drawn between the incident and Richard Bach’s bestselling book “Jonathan Livingston Seagull,” in which the protagonist sets himself apart by flying differently from his peers. This results in him being cast out before eventually becoming an inspirational leader for his flock.
Although this phenomenon has been captured before by other photographers, Cornelissen said that he had never come across an image as sharp as his own photo.
According to Soerink, some geese do this. But it’s a matter of seconds, so photos of this phenomenon are rare and certainly not as sharp and good as this one. So all credit to the photographer.
“I always look around and listen to all the sounds. Not only in nature, but also on the streets. Sometimes I give myself a goal for that day, for example, taking a picture in black and white with high shadow contrasts. I like to challenge myself,“ Cornelissen said.
Cornelissen said that most of the time he uses his own filters such as "Lightroom Photoshop." He likes the matte look in a picture. For bird photography, he often uses "Topaz DeNoise" to erase grain and add some sharpness.
It doesn’t solely depend on the talent of the photographer, says Cornelissen; a great photograph sometimes just depends on the day, weather, the photographer’s mood and often a lot of luck and patience, he stated.
