Little Blue Heron at Lake Hollingsworth
Lev 11:19 And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat.
Peterson’s Field Guide Videos have great information about how to identify birds in the Heron, Egrets and Bittern Family. This is a very good video.
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See the other video in this series:
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You have got to watch this Green Heron fishing with bread. The video speaks for itself.
Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:26 NKJV)
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Bleeding-Heart Pigeon ©WikiC
And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged; (Genesis 8:1 KJV)
Today, here in the United States, is Memorial Day. A day when we remember those who have given their all in the service of our country. We honor those who we can no longer thank. As this is being written, they are laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at Arlington National Cemetary.
My father was one of those who passed away as a result of his being in the trenches in WW I. He suffered for several years from the effects of the “mustard gas” that was sprayed on them. It is good for us to remember things and honor events.
Yesterday, in the morning service, the event of the 12 stones being taken for the Jordon River by the Israelites for a memorial was taught. That was a memorial to remind them of the way the LORD protected them and made a way for them to cross over the Jordon. It is good to remember things and honor events.
And Joshua said unto them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan, and take ye up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. (Joshua 4:5-7 KJV)
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) by Quy Tran
Our Scripture above is where the God remembered those He was protecting from the flood that were aboard the ark. He did not forget them. In time, the waters went down and they were able to leave the ark.
And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, that the waters were dried up from the earth; and Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and indeed the surface of the ground was dry. And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dried. Then 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.” (Genesis 8:13-17 NKJV)
It does us good to remember what the God has done through His creation and protection during the flood. Just as He provided salvation for them from the flood, and only those in the ark were saved. Today, we have a Savior who said:
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6 KJV)
Bald Eagle Brings Nesting Material by Aesthetic Photos
Happy Memorial Day! Lord Bless your day as you remember.
See:
P.S. Check out this article:
‘Sarge, Will You Tell Us About God?’ – The Story of God’s Miraculous Protection of an Entire U. S. Marine Unit, From A Walk In The Word
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The Belted Piping Plover
From col. F. M. Woodruff. Copyrighted by Nature Study Pub. Co., 1897, Chicago.
Lord Howe Island by Ian
Ian’s Bird of the Week – Providence Petrel ~ by Ian Montgomery
Newsletter ~ 5/20/13
Your collective moral support did it again, thank you very much, so here is the Providence Petrel the other really special bird species of Lord Howe Island. ‘Special’ in the sense that after its extermination on Norfolk Island by 1800, Lord Howe was its last remaining breeding site, saving it from extinction. Unlike Norfolk Island which lacks very high mountains, Lord Howe has two fairly inaccessible ones, Mount Lidgbird, on the left in the first photo, and the taller Mount Gower on the right and it is on the tops and slopes of these that the Providence Petrel breeds.
You need to be a mountaineer to climb Mount Lidgbird and young and very fit to climb Mount Gower. We took the easier option of going by boat to the base of Mount Gower where we got good views of many Petrels in flight preparing to land at their nesting burrows. They are winter breeders, returning to the island in March and laying eggs in May. They seem reluctant to actually land, so each afternoon the air around the two Mountains swarms with these birds like clouds of insects and it is a wonderful sight.
Very clumsy on the ground, they are fast and agile in the air so I was happy to get a few reasonable shots given the choppy conditions without falling overboard. The first Petrel photo shows the characteristic overall dark bird (it looks lighter than usual against Mount Gower) with the characteristic white patches on the primary wing feathers and under wing coverts that distinguishes it from most other similar petrels. The second petrel shot, shows the upper wings – these are all dark and lack the white shafts to the primaries that distinguish the similar Kermadec Petrel. Other field marks are the scaly white feathers on the face and the dark neck and upper breast.
The third petrel photo shows a more characteristic dorsal shot with the bird silhouetted against the sky and shows it long slender wings. The birds average 40cm/16 in in length with a wingspan of about 1 m/3 ft 3 in. After breeding, the disperse to the North Pacific. For food, they dive into the water for crustaceans, squid and small fish.
Providence Petrel (Pterodroma solandri) by Ian
The Lord Howe population is estimated at about 30,000 pairs. Feral pigs were eliminated as part of the Woodhen recovery project and the Petrels are recolonising the lower slopes of the mountains. They were rediscovered on Phillip Island close to Norfolk Island in 1985 and the current population there is less than 100 pairs. The elimination from Norfolk Island took place between 1790 and 1800 with perhaps one million adults and young being harvested in the period 1790-1793.
Best wishes
Ian
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Ian Montgomery, Birdway Pty Ltd,
454 Forestry Road, Bluewater, Qld 4818
Tel 0411 602 737 ian@birdway.com.au
Check the latest website updates:
http://www.birdway.com.au/#updates
Lee’s Addition:
Let them give glory unto the LORD, and declare his praise in the islands. (Isaiah 42:12 KJV)
Ian has shared another of his birdwatching adventures with us. It’s good to hear that the Petrels there are making a comeback.
Petrels belong to the Procellaridae Family. The family consists of Petrels, Shearwaters, Fulmars, and Prions,
“The Providence Petrel (Pterodroma solandri) is a species that burrows in one location; isolated Lord Howe Island, some 800km from the Australian mainland in the Tasman Sea.
Of roughly pigeon like proportions (40cm), the bird was once also numerous on Norfolk Island (to Australia). However, its population here was consumed by starving epicurean transportees, sent to Norfolk Island as way of punishment. Nonetheless it numbers some 100,000 on Lord Howe. Graceful and supple in flight, the Providence Petrel has a cumbersome propensity on the ground, making it vulnerable from attack by predators.
Despite its reasonably copious strength of numbers, the Providence Petrel is deemed to be in a precarious disposition because its breeding is confined to two mountain tops and one tiny islet, and is therefore at great risk from a catastrophe.
This species is classified as vulnerable. Main causes of death are predation by the endangered Lord Howe Rail and flooding of burrows. Other dangers include rat predation and drowning in longline fishing gear. The current population is estimated at 64,000.
The scientific name of this species was given in honour of the Swedish botanist Daniel Solander, Solander’s Petrel being an alternative common name.” (Information from Wikipedia)
See:
Procellariidae – Petrels, Shearwaters Family
Providence Petrel – Wikipedia
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Sunrise at Patrick AFB by Lee
And they rose up early in the morning, and the sun shone upon the water, … (2 Kings 3:22a KJV)
We just got back from a spontaneous three day trip down to the Palm Beach Zoo, (Palm Beach, FL) and up to the Viera Wetlands (Viera, FL) and then back home yesterday. As we rode along and since I haven’t been driving because of my eye situation, I kept a list of the birds along the way. The list below was the ones I reported to e-Bird. This includes the birds that were at the Zoo, but not captives. Our loop took us down US 27 and then back up I-95, through Orlando and back across I-4 to Winter Haven. Not a bad list. The ones in bold were special finds. In fact, the Northern Rough-winged Swallow and Bank Swallow were added to my life list. I am now at 245 on their list. The list was kept for each county we went through. (It gave me something to do while riding.)
Black-bellied Whistling-Duck
Muscovy Duck (Domestic type)
Indian Peafowl (Domestic type)
Wood Stork
Magnificent Frigatebird
Double-crested Cormorant
Anhinga
Brown Pelican
Least Bittern
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Little Blue Heron
Tricolored Heron
Cattle Egret
Black-crowned Night-Heron
White Ibis
Glossy Ibis
White-faced Ibis
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Osprey
Swallow-tailed Kite
Bald Eagle
Red-shouldered Hawk
Common Gallinule
American Coot
Sandhill Crane
Ruddy Turnstone
Sanderling
Rock Pigeon
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Crested Caracara
American Crow
Fish Crow
Northern Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow
Northern Mockingbird
European Starling
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Common Grackle
Boat-tailed Grackle
House Sparrow
Anhinga (Anhinga anhinga) Immatures at Viera Wetland by Lee
The Viera Wetlands count is included with those above, but is the individual count just for Viera. That actually was a birdwatching destination and e-Bird likes it counted separately. It is one of our favorites over on the east side of Florida. Unfortunately, it has apparently been dry over there, plus most of the Winter Birds have gone back north. So, the birding wasn’t as plentiful as normal. Here is the list of the birds we saw. We stopped there in the afternoon on Wednesday and then visited it again Thursday before heading home. We saw 23 species altogether .
| Species Name | 15-May | 16-May |
| Black-bellied Whistling-Duck | 2 | — |
| Anhinga | 9 | 6 |
| Brown Pelican | — | 2 |
| Least Bittern | — | 1 |
| Great Blue Heron | 8 | 6 |
| Great Egret | 10 | 14 |
| Little Blue Heron | 1 | 1 |
| Tricolored Heron | 1 | 1 |
| Cattle Egret | 11 | 15 |
| White Ibis | 7 | 7 |
| Glossy Ibis | 2 | 7 |
| White-faced Ibis | — | 1 |
| Turkey Vulture | 1 | 15 |
| Osprey | — | 2 |
| Common Gallinule | 5 | 13 |
| American Coot | 8 | 4 |
| Belted Kingfisher | 1 | — |
| Red-bellied Woodpecker | 2 | — |
| Crested Caracara | 1 | — |
| Fish Crow | 1 | 2 |
| Red-winged Blackbird | 10 | 12 |
| Common Grackle | — | 3 |
| Boat-tailed Grackle | 18 | 22 |
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Northern Crested Caracara (Caracara cheriway) at Viera Wetlands by Lee
The Crested Caracara was the best find. We had taken our photos and had stopped at the exit to put our cameras away. Dan had his in the trunk and mine was bagged when I look up and there he was right by us on the ground. Needless to say, we scrambled to get the camera back out, hoping we wouldn’t scare it off. As you can see, we got the photos of him.
I will save the Palm Beach Zoo birds and photos until another post. I took over 700, so it might take a day or two.
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Watching young nearby at Viera Wetlands
Here is what is being watched so closely:
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) Young at Viera Wetlands
See:
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Reddish, Snowys, Greats Egrets and Great Blue Heron (5-10-13) by Lee
And the stork, the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. (Leviticus 11:19 KJV)
Herons are one of the species listed on the “Do not eat list” as we have written about before in the various Birds of the Bible – Heron articles. The first one was written back in 2008 when I first started the blog.
Since we were out birdwatching last week over in Tampa at the bay, I thought I would share some of those photos and update the Heron information some more. We saw a Great Blue Heron, several Little Blue Herons, and several others that are “after her kind” and in the same Ardeidae – Heron, Bittern family. There were Snowy Egrets and Great Egrets fishing along with the others. The Little Blue Herons were in breeding plumage which you could tell because of their exceptionally blue beaks. (Not real clear-I was zoomed from quite a distance)
Little Blue Heron and Snowy Egrets by Lee from distance
Herons are only mentioned twice in Scripture; Leviticus 11:19 and in Deuteronomy 14:18. That modern-day family, Ardiedae, currently has 72 members which includes not only Herons and Egrets, but also Bitterns. Some of them are grouped together like, Tiger Herons, Night Herons, Pond Herons, Reef Herons and Cattle Egrets. Not sure about the Tiger Herons but the night, pond, reef, and cattle name give you a clue as to where you might find them out and about.
And the stork, and the heron after her kind, and the lapwing, and the bat. (Deuteronomy 14:18 KJV)
The herons are long-legged freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, (some are called “egrets” or “bitterns” instead of “heron”). Within Ardeidae, all members of the genera Botaurus and Ixobrychus are referred to as “bitterns”, and — including the Zigzag Heron or Zigzag Bittern — are a monophyletic group within the Ardeidae. However, egrets are not a biologically distinct group from the herons, and tend to be named differently because they are mainly white and/or have decorative plumes. Although egrets have the same build as herons, they tend to be smaller.
Great Egret (Ardea alba) Swallowing by Lee
The classification of the individual heron/egret species is fraught with difficulty, and there is still no clear consensus about the correct placement of many species into either of the two major genera, Ardea and Egretta. Similarly, the relationship of the genera in the family is not completely resolved. However, one species formerly considered to constitute a separate monotypic family Cochlearidae, the Boat-billed Heron, is now regarded as a member of the Ardeidae.
Although herons resemble birds in some other families, such as the storks, ibises, spoonbills and cranes, they differ from these in flying with their necks retracted, not outstretched. They are also one of the bird groups that have powder down. Some members of this group nest colonially in trees, while others, notably the bitterns, use reedbeds.
The largest species of heron is the Goliath Heron, which stand up to 152 cm (60 in) tall. The necks are able to kink in an s-shape, due to the modified shape of the sixth vertebrae. The neck is able to retract and extend, and is retracted during flight, unlike most other long-necked birds. The neck is longer in the day herons than the night herons and bitterns. The legs are long and strong and in almost every species are unfeathered from the lower part of the tibia (the exception is the Zigzag Heron). In flight the legs and feet are held backward. The feet of herons have long thin toes, with three forward pointing ones and one going backward.
Reddish-Snowys-Greats Egrets – Snowy in front with yellow feet
The herons are a widespread family with a cosmopolitan distribution. They exist on all continents except Antarctica, and are present in most habitats except the coldest extremes of the Arctic, extremely high mountains and the driest deserts. Almost all species are associated with water, they are essentially non-swimming waterbirds that feed on the margins of lakes, rivers, swamps, ponds and the sea. They are predominately found in lowland areas, although some species live in alpine areas, and the majority of species occur in the tropics.
While the family exhibits a range of breeding strategies, overall the herons are monogamous and mostly colonial. Most day-herons and night-herons are colonial, or partly colonial depending on circumstances, whereas the bitterns and tiger-herons are mostly solitary nesters. Colonies may contain several species as well as other types of waterbird. In a study of Little Egrets and Cattle Egrets in India the majority of the colonies surveyed contained both species. (Wikipedia with editing)
See:
Birds of the Bible – Heron – Page
Bible Birds – Herons [younger readers]
Birds of the Bible – Herons – Article
Heron – Wikipedia
Ardeidae – Heron, Bitterns family
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Lord Howe Woodhen (Gallirallus sylvestris) by Ian
Ian’s Bird of the Week – Lord Howe Woodhen ~ By Ian Montgomery
Newsletter ~ 5/11/13
My sister Gillian and I arrived for a week’s visit to Lord Howe Island this morning. I haven’t been here since a visit with my mother on her last trip to Australia in 1992. That was in pre-digital photography days, so I am of course keen to photograph some of the local specialties. Perhaps at the top of the list is the famous flightless Lord Howe Woodhen, saved from probably extinction by a captive breeding program in the late 1970s and early 1980s. We had barely finished unpacking when a pair came past our front door to welcome us to the island.
The bird in the first photo has, like many of the population of 200-300 birds, coloured legs bands to assist in monitoring the population. Its partner, second photo, lacked bands and is naturally more photogenic from a wildlife viewpoint, so I concentrated my efforts on it.
Lord Howe Woodhen (Gallirallus sylvestris) by Ian
In the gloom of the Kentia Palm forest that covers much of the lowland of the island, the birds look greyish and are quite difficult to see. When they move into the sunlight, like the one in the third photo that has found fruit from the tree outside our room, the warm chestnut colour of the plumage becomes apparent.
Lord Howe Woodhen (Gallirallus sylvestris) by Ian
Woodhens form permanent pair bonds and defend their territories which are several hectares in size. Both these birds are adult, recognisable by their red eyes. With a length of 36 cm/14 in these are largish rails, bigger than the related Buff-banded Rail which is also present on the island (and has also wandered past our room).
Lord Howe Woodhen (Gallirallus sylvestris) by Ian
Next target is the Providence Petrel, so wish me luck. After its extinction on Norfolk Island – where it was regarded as ‘Provident’ – it survived only on Lord Howe, though a small colony has recently become re-established on Phillip Island off Norfolk.
Best wishes
Ian
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Ian Montgomery, Birdway Pty Ltd,
454 Forestry Road, Bluewater, Qld 4818
Tel 0411 602 737 ian@birdway.com.au
Check the latest website updates:
http://www.birdway.com.au/#updates
Lee’s Addition:
… how often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen doth gather her brood under her wings, and ye would not! (Luke 13:34b KJV)
Never heard of a Woodhen before. Thanks, Ian, for introducing us to another one of the Lord’s creations. According to my list from IOC, there are only three Woodhens; the Lord Howe, Samoan and Makira Woodhens (The last two seem to be called woodhens only by IOC). They are in the Rallidae – Rails, Crakes & Coots Family. One other bird sometimes refered to as a Woodhen is the Weka.
“The Lord Howe Woodhen (Gallirallus sylvestris) also known as the Lord Howe Island Woodhen or Lord Howe (Island) Rail, is a flightless bird of the rail family (Rallidae). It is endemic to Lord Howe Island off the Australian coast. It is a small olive-brown bird, with a short tail and a down-curved bill. The Lord Howe Island Rail lives in sub-tropical forests, feeding on earthworms, crustaceans, fruit, and taking the eggs of shearwaters and petrels.
Woodhens mate for life and are usually encountered in pairs. They are territorial and will appear from the forest’s understory to investigate the source of any unusual noise. A mated pair will defend an area of approximately 3 hectares, with offspring being expelled from this area once grown. The population of birds is thus restricted by the amount of available territory.
Today there are about 250 birds, which may be the optimal population size for the island. (Wikipedia with editing)
See:
Rallidae – Rails, Crakes & Coots Family
Lord Howe Woodhen – Wikipedia
Woodhen (Weka) – Wikipedia
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Greater White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons) by Nikhil Devasar
From col. Chi. Acad. Sciences. Copyrighted by
Nature Study Pub. Co., 1897, Chicago.
Yesterday’s My Mom And Me – Email blog inspired me to write a new article for the Birds of the Bible For Kids. It is called:”
Bible Birds – Mother Birds and Their Young.
Please check it out. It is geared for a younger audience.
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My Mom and Us
Yesterday, in My Mom and Me – Photos, you saw many photos of Mother Animals and Mother Birds with their young ones. Does the Bible mention mother birds and their young or eggs. Yes, it does.
“If a bird’s nest happens to be before you along the way, in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs, with the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young;
you shall surely let the mother go, and take the young for yourself, that it may be well with you and that you may prolong your days. (Deuteronomy 22:6-7 NKJV)
That is very interesting verse. It tells us not to take both the mother and the young or eggs. Do you know why? Look at the last verse; it says “may be well with you and you will prolong your days (live longer). Do you know another reason not to take both? The Lord commanded the animals and birds to have babies and fill the earth. If you kill them both, then none of that family will be able to have more baby birds or the young will not get to grow up and have baby birds. Soon, there wouldn’t be any more of those kinds of birds and they would become “extinct.”
The Lord told us from the very beginning of the Bible to have “dominion” over the birds and animals. That does not mean to be mean to them, but more like to watch over them and care for them. That is what our verse above is telling us. Not to destroy all of them, but to leave some of the family alive to carry on.
Gather the people–men, women, children, and foreigners living within your gates–so that they may listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and be careful to follow all the words of this law. (Deuteronomy 31:12 HCSB)
See:
More Bible Birds
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Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus 