Monthly Archives: March 2009

Fossil Fibers Befuddle Dinosaur Evolution from I.C.R.

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Fossil Fibers Befuddle Dinosaur Evolution
by Brian Thomas, M.S.*

Evolutionary museums and textbooks have often portrayed modern birds as the descendants of dinosaurs, a story that has been presented without empirical support. Now, a new “feathered” dinosaur discovery has thrown a wrench into the already dysfunctional machinery of the dino-to-bird tale. This dinosaur fossil with fang-like teeth, Tianyulong confuciusi, has been found with fibers that resemble structures believed by some evolutionists to be the precursors of feathers—the only problem is, it’s the wrong category of dinosaur to have them!

To read the rest of this article, go to I.C.R.

Since this blog is about birds and the other one creation, this article is good reading for both areas.

Birds of the Bible – Foundation #4

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We will continue on with the Birds of the Bible – Foundation series.

If you have not read the previous blogs:
Foundation #1,  –  Foundation #2 –  Foundation #3

The last article in this series left the world, Noah, his family, the animals, birds and creeping things in a rough situation. All the world was violently rearranged by the global flood and all air-breathing creation was dead, except for those on board the Ark.

Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (1 Peter 3:20)

But first must he (Christ-the Creator) suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. (Luke 17:25-27)

Just as those who were saved by being in the Ark, so are we by putting our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (1 Timothy 2:5)

Australian Raven by Les Thurbon

Australian Raven by Les Thurbon

Finally, (Noah and all were in the Ark for over a year.) Noah opened the window in the ark and sent forth a raven. The raven which flew back and forth to the ark until the land was dried up. Noah, then sent out the Dove (female) to see if the ground was off the ground. Doves are ground feeders and also like to put their nests on the ground many times. She found no resting place for her feet and so Noah put out his hand and brought

Eurasian-collared Dove in Israel

Eurasian-collared Dove in Israel

her back inside. Noah waited 7 more days and sent the dove out again and this time she came back with an olive leaf. This let Noah know that the waters were receding. When he released her again 7 more days later, the dove did not return. “The surface of the ground was dry.” (Genesis 8:7-12)

After 7 more days: “God spoke to Noah, saying,”

“Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark. Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.” (Genesis 8:16-22 NKJV)

That is a tremendous promise and in Genesis 9, God blesses Noah and his sons and then makes some statements:

  • Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth
  • Fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast, bird, all that move on the earth, all fish of the sea. Are given into your hand
  • Every moving thing that lives shall be food. (Man is no longer just a vegetarian)
  • You shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood
  • Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.
  • God makes a covenant with man and every living creature

Genesis 9:11-17 NKJV
(11)  Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”
(12)  And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
(13)  I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.
(14)  It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud;
(15)  and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
(16)  The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”
(17)  And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Rainbow by Mike Bader

Rainbow by Mike Bader

What a tremendous promise! Even though man and critters are still cursed, God will never bring another global flood.

As for the birds and other critters, we find from God’s Word that there are changes for them. They now can become food for man and other critters, they now have a fear and dread of man who has dominion over them, they now become eaters of others. They are still to reproduce and spread out and fill the earth, they are promised never to be totally destroyed again by a global flood, etc. Somewhere between the Fall in the garden of Eden and this, the nature of birds and critters is drastically changed from what God originally created them to be. All because of SIN.

Continue to Birds of the Bible – Foundation #5

Some links to some informative articles about the flood:
Noah’s Flood covered the whole earth
Universality of the Genesis Flood
How Did Defense/Attack Structures Come About?

All Things Bright And Beautiful – Cecil F. Alexander

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Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Gen 1:31 NKJV)

Words: Ce­cil F. Al­ex­an­der, Hymns for Lit­tle Child­ren, 1848. Alex­an­der is thought to have writ­ten these lyr­ics at Mark­ree Cas­tle, near Sli­go, Ire­land.

Music: Roy­al Oak, 17th Cen­tu­ry Eng­lish mel­o­dy; ar­ranged by Mar­tin F. Shaw, 1915 Al­ter­nate tunes:

  • Bright and Beau­ti­ful, Wil­liam H. Monk
  • Gerald, Lud­wig Spohr, 1834
  • Greystone, by W. R. Wag­horne, in Songs for Lit­tle Peo­ple (Dan­i­el­son and Co­nant: 1905)

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Each little flow’r that opens,
Each little bird that sings,
He made their glowing colors,
He made their tiny wings.

All things bright and beautiful,

Long-tailed Hermit in Costa Ricaby Wildstock Photos

Long-tailed Hermit in Costa Ricaby Wildstock Photos

All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

The purple-headed mountain,
The river running by,
The sunset, and the morning
That brightens up the sky.

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

The cold wind in the winter,
The pleasant summer sun,
The ripe fruits in the garden,
He made them ev’ry one:

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

The tall trees in the greenwood,
The meadows where we play,
The rushes by the water
We gather ev’ry day:

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

He gave us eyes to see them,
And lips that we might tell
How great is God Almighty,
Who has made all things well

All things bright and beautiful,
All creatures great and small,
All things wise and wonderful,
The Lord God made them all.

Most information from The Cyber Hymnal

See ~ Wordless Birds

More ~ Birds in Hymns

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(Updated 4/29/09)
All things bright and beautiful, really? by Ken Ham

Birdwatching Trips – Circle B Bar Reserve

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Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill by Dan

Time gets away from me and I realized that two trips were made to the Circle B Bar that were never written about. So I am going to combine the two. On February 24th and the on March 10th we made our way to one of the neatest places to bird here in central Florida. Both days were cloudless and cool but nice. The biggest problem out there right now is that we are in draught conditions and some of the water holes are drying. It seems the birds that like shallower water are finding  it great, but some have moved on.

White Pelicans at distance with friends

One group of White Pelicans at distance with friends

The highlight of both trips were the White Pelicans. There numbers were in the 1000’s. I gave up counting after 1,000 and found out that a week earlier over 5,000 had been counted. It was neat to watch them lift up in groups and circle abit until they got in their V-formations and then head off. It was awesome to watch. My other joy was watching my first Common Yellowthroat that I had seen up close. He looks like a “yellow bandito” with a black mask (The picture is blurry, but you can see him). We also spot a “huge” alligator and an otter. Below is a list of what was spotted on those two trips. We were with some home schoolers on one of those trips, so we were training as well as looking. There are many more birds to see out there. My life list is up to 73 out there, plus the ones I couldn’t ID.

White Pelicans by Lee

White Pelicans by Lee

Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Bobwhite
Pied-billed Grebe
American White Pelican
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Snowy Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis

Common Yellowthroat

Common Yellowthroat

Roseate Spoonbill
Wood Stork
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Bald Eagle
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Purple Gallinule
Common Moorhen
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Killdeer
Lesser Yellowlegs
Wilson’s Snipe
Mourning Dove

Red-shouldered Hawk

Red-shouldered Hawk by Dan

Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern Phoebe
Blue-headed Vireo
Blue Jay
Tree Swallow
Tufted Titmouse
Sedge Wren
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Northern Mockingbird
Palm Warbler
Common Yellowthroat
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Boat-tailed Grackle

For more visits to Circle B Bar Reserve

Birds of the Bible – Foundation #3

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We will continue on with the Birds of the Bible – Foundation series.

If you have not read the previous blogs:
Foundation #1
Foundation #2

In the last blog the “Fall” of Adam and Eve was mentioned and because of that, the “Curse” is now on them and all of God’s creation. Death comes on the scene, mankind now has sinned and now each person is born as a sinner. The ground is cursed and thorns and thistle now appear.

By Genesis Chapter 6, God has had it with the sins of man.

And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. (Genesis 6:5-7 KJV)

The Ark by Elfred Lee

The Ark by Elfred Lee

All is not lost because, “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” (Genesis 6:8 KJV) Because of the grace found by Noah, the LORD gives him instructions about how to build an ark including the size, materials to use, who and what will be on board, and why the ark will be needed. God makes a covenant with Noah and tells him to come in with his wife and his sons and his son’s wives.

And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive. (Genesis 6:19-20 KJV)

He was also to provide food for all of them. And Noah obeyed all that he was told. Noah spent over 100 years preparing the ark and trying to warn others of the coming judgment. There was plenty of room on the ark for more than the 8 people who boarded the ark. The others refused to repent.

When we get to Chapter 7, the boarding of the ark takes place and the rain and flood begins. “And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him.” (Genesis 7:1-5)

Noah did not have to round up the animals, they came to him. Because not every animal we see today came on board but the main kinds (for instance the “bird kinds” may have had a “warbler kind” but not have black and white warblers,yellow-rumped warblers, hooded warbler, etc.), which ever ones they were, there was plenty of room for them. I have an idea that because the LORD sent the animals, birds, and critters, that their DNA’s were of the highest quality. (That is my opinion)

Dove in Israel

Doves in Israel

If you read the rest of Genesis 7, you will see that the global flood came and covered everything and only those who were in the ark survived, plus some of those that live in the water.

And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. (Genesis 7:21-23)

In Foundation #4 we will find out about what the birds go through as they come off the ark and after.

Amazing Free-Flying Bald Eagle “Challenger” (AEF)

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I received this in an e-mail, and felt compelled to reproduce it here. It is worth viewing. It is on YouTube.

“Read the narrative before viewing.

If this does not give you goose bumps, you had better see a doctor.

This is an awesome music video… Featuring a special free-flying Bald Eagle named ‘Challenger’ (in honor of the lost space shuttle crew) cared for by the non-profit American Eagle Foundation (AEF).

He’s a ‘human socialized’ bird accidentally raised by the people who rescued him – after being blown from a wild Louisiana nest in a storm as a baby in the late 1980s. Declared ‘non-releasable’ by federal and state wildlife authorities, he was trained by the AEF to perform educational free-flight demonstrations at high profile public events.

He’s the first Bald Eagle in U.S. History that learned to free-fly into stadiums, arenas and ballrooms during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner. The celebrity eagle has appeared at numerous major sporting events… Like the World Series, Pro-Bowl, All-Star game, BCS National Championship, Fiesta Bowl and Men’s Final Four, etc.

Challenger has also flown before 4 U.S. Presidents! His life story is told in a children’s storybook titled ‘Challenger, America ‘s Favorite Eagle.’

Turn on your speakers and click on link below.”

Interesting Things – Amazing Giraffe

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Interesting Things from Smiley Central
The Amazing Giraffe

Here are two different videos about the Giraffe telling about how God has created them with a special feature called the “wonder net.” This really called the “rete mirabile.” See an article I did, “Interesting Things – Why Birds Don’t Wear Socks“, from information from Creation Moments.
The first video is from Creation Moments on YouTube.

The second video is from nubeckett on YouTube and explains the “wonder net” in a little more detail.

Interesting Things – The Platypus

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Thinking

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11 KJV)

Scientific classification

Platypus From Creation Wiki

Platypus From Creation Wiki

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Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Monotremata
Family: Ornithorhynchidae
Genus: Ornithorhynchus
Blumenbach, 1800
Species: O. anatinus

The platypus is roughly half the size of a household cat. It has a thick covering of waterproof hair over all of its body, except for its feet and bill. It is a member of the Monotreme family, which are mammals that lay eggs.

The male platypus’s body is about 20-23 inches long and the female is about 17-18 inches long. The platypus has a thick covering of waterproof hair all over its body except for the feet and bill. The platypus’s sensitive, pliable bill is a blue-gray, blackish color with the two nostril holes near the tip. The location of the nostrils allows the platypus to breath while the rest of the body stays under the water. The platypus does not have external ears. The platypus has four legs which extend horizontally from its body. This arrangement makes it walk on land with a shuffle like a lizard.

During breeding season, males can fight each other and the venom in their spurs becomes more poisonous. The platypus is the only Australian mammal known to be venomous. The female platypus lays one to three round eggs, which have soft and leathery shells, in a nest made of wet leaves and grass. In the wild, reproductive activity takes place from winter to late spring. The baby platypus suckles the milk excreted from a “milk field” on the mother’s belly; there are no nipples.

The modern platypus is found among the freshwater systems of eastern Australia. The platypus is an excellent swimmer and spends much of its time in the water. It feeds on worms and insect larvae, freshwater shrimp and crayfish that it digs out of the river-bed with its snout or catches while swimming. The platypus automatically shuts both its eyes and ears when it dives, and so relies almost entirely on its bill to find food and navigate underwater.

Evolutionists claim that the platypus is evidence of evolution since it is so strange. This is because they start with an assumption that the platypus evolved so of course they see it as evidence for that. In reality the platypus is more evidence for the amazing intelligence of God’s design. Truly only a super-Intelligent Designer could make such an amazing combination of mammalian and reptilian features in a single creature.

Here is an interesting article about the Platypus from Creation Magazine-24(2):40–43, March 2002 by Paula Weston

The platypus – Still more questions than answers for evolutionists

Buddy Davis singing about a Platypus.
It’s Designed To Do What It Does Do-Buddy Davis Song

Here is another interesting video of the Platypus from Australia

References:
Platypus – at Creation Wiki
Platypus – at Wikipedia

Happy 49th Birthday!

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Best Day of my LifeToday, March 20th, 2009, is my 49th Birthday! Not my original birth birthday, but my spiritual birthday. On March 20th of 1960, which was a Sunday, I attended Crossroads Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana at the invite of my sister and her husband. I decided to go that day, to break a record of attending church more than once a year, usually on Easter Sunday. That day became one that would totally change my life and its direction.

My sister, Sharry, and Joe, her husband, had recently received the Lord Jesus as their personal Savior and had been witnessing to me. We were not raised in a home that went to church regularly, but only taken occasionally. I really had no idea about being a sinner nor about John 3:16, “For  God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” I knew that at 16, I did things that were not right and that there was something lacking in my life.

So, there I was, listening to the sermon by Rev. Charlie Kittrell. As he gave his message I realized that I was a sinner, (“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10), there was a penalty for sin and also a gift of salvation (For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23), and that I needed to ask forgiveness for my sins and accept the Lord as my Savior. (“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation,” Romans 10:9-10). When the invitation was given, I went forward and a lady showed me how to accept the Lord, and I did.

For the rest of this:   Happy 49th Birthday!

Peterson Field Guide – Videos

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Ring-necked Duck at Lake Morton by Dan

Ring-necked Duck at Lake Morton by Dan

I finally got all the current “Peterson Field Guide” – Videos posted and they are all indexed on the following page. I trust you will watch them and some of the additional links provided here on this site.

The Videos are very good and you can learn much from them. Hopefully, they will be producing more. If so, they will also be added to this blog. Again, Peterson Field Guides has recently begun producing short videos on YouTube. Birdwatching was advanced greatly because of Roger Tory Peterson. I have several of the Peterson Field Guides and use them very frequently.

Peterson Field Guide Video Series

“Peterson Field Guide” Videos is from petersonfieldguides at YouTube