Great Horned Owl Youngsters at Circle B Bar Reserve by Lee
“And the little owl, and the cormorant, and the great owl,” (Leviticus 11:17 KJV)
This afternoon we were able to go to the Circle B Bar Reserve and watch the latest talk of the birders. Yesterday, our birding friends at church told us about these two youngsters that were stealing all the attention at the park.
It was easy to find the area, because it is roped off to keep everyone at a safe distance from the youngsters. An array of onlookers with binoculars and lots of cameras were watching and waiting for the youngsters to wake up from their naps.
Great Horned Owl Youngsters at Circle B Bar Reserve by Lee
Finally, a fuzzy ball appeared, and then a head popped up. Eventually, two heads were visible.
Notice how their Creator gave them just the right kind of feathers to blend in with their surroundings. Another example of the Lord’s Care for His creation.
Great Horned Owl Youngsters at Circle B Bar Reserve by Lee
Trust you will enjoy these glimpses of them. It was hard trying to catch a decent photo because they were quite a way from us. Trying to hold a zoomed in, hand-held, camera in “program mode” is a challenge. But, I am so thankful for the Lord allowing us to see some of his wonderfully created Great Horn Owl youngsters. These were my first GHO youngsters seen in the wild.
Do You See Them
Let Me Zoo In Some More. .. Do You See Them Now?
Zoomed In More…Do You See Them Now!
Here is a slide show of the photos in fairly decent order of how they were taken.
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I was able to shoot some video, but again, it’s a little shaky. Enjoy.
Long-tailed Paradise Whydah by Dan at the National Aviary
Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith. (Proverbs 15:16 KJV)
Our next families in our Passeriformes Order are small families. Because they are small in number does not mean they are small in beauty. I love the song, “Little Is Much When God Is In It.” Maybe because I am short. :) Sometimes these small groups are a result of the ornithologists not being sure which family to include them. As they (ornithologists) keep doing DNA studies, more shuffling in families will occur.
Our largest family, Viduidae, today has twenty species of Indigobirds, Whydahs, and a Cuckoo-finch. We saw our first Whydah at the National Aviary in Pittsburg, PA. It is appropriately called a Long-tailed Paradise Whydah. You can see its long tail, worn by males, in the photo. These are finch-like birds which usually have black or indigo predominating in their plumage.
All are brood parasites, which lay their eggs in the nests of estrildid finch species; most indigobirds use fire-finches as hosts, whereas the paradise whydahs chose pytilias. Unlike the cuckoo, the indigobirds and whydahs do not destroy the host’s eggs.
The Olive Warbler is the solo member of his family, (Peucedramidae), but there are several sub-species. This species breeds from southern Arizona and New Mexico, USA, south through Mexico to Nicaragua. It is the only bird family endemic to North America (including Central America).
It is an insectivorous species of coniferous forests. Though it is often said to be non-migratory,[3] most New Mexican birds leave the state from November to late February. It lays 3–4 eggs in a tree nest”. (Wikipedia)
The Prunellidae – Accentors Family has thirteen members named Accentors and one Dunnock, of the genus, Prunella. All but the Dunnock and the Japanese Accentor are inhabitants of the mountainous regions of Europe and Asia; these two also occur in lowland areas, as does the Siberian Accentor in the far north of Siberia. This genus is not strongly migratory, but they will leave the coldest parts of their range in winter, and make altitudinal movements.
Their typical habitat is mountainous regions in an area far above the tree-line, but below the snow-line. The Himalayan accentor can be found as high as 17,000 ft above sea level when breeding, however, most accentors breed in scrub vegetation at lower levels. Most species migrate downwards to spend the winter, with only some being hardy enough to remain. Accentors spend the majority of their time in the undergrowth and even when flushed, stay low to the ground until reaching cover. (Wikipedia)
Skipping over the Wagtails and Pipits (covered next week), our last bird, the Przevalski’s Finch (Urocynchramus pylzowi), is again in a family by itself.
The Przevalski’s Finch or Przewalski’s Finch (Urocynchramus pylzowi) is an unusual passerine bird from the mountains of central-west China. The species is named for Nikolai Przhevalsky, the Russian explorer who described it. Its taxonomic affinities were unclear for a long time, giving rise to other common names, the Pink-tailed Bunting and the Przewalski’s Rosefinch. In 2000 it was proposed that it should in fact be regarded neither as a finch nor a bunting, but as the only member of the family Urocynchramidae,
Przewalski’s Finch is a small bird similar in appearance to the Long-tailed Rosefinch. The tail is long and – quite unlike in typical finches – graduated, with the outer feathers much shorter than the central ones. The sexes are sexually dimorphic, with the males having bright pink on the throat, breast and belly. Both sexes have brown streaked plumage on the back and wings. The bill is thinner than those of the rosefinches. (Wikipedia)
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But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19:14 KJV)
Jeanie Boyette, who has written poems here on the blog, sent me this link. What a fantastic video! How can we not thank our Great Creator as we watch this. Richard Sidey produced this show of God’s Wonder’s.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8 NKJV)
Well, they released a new I.O.C. version of World Bird Names. This version is 6.1 and I have been working on updating the site to reflect the new changes. It was not a really huge change, thankfully. In fact, they only added five new species and deleted one.
The IOC World Bird List 6.1 contains 10,615 extant species (and 154 extinct species) classified in 40 Orders, 239 Families (plus 2 Incertae Sedis) and 2283 Genera and 20,601 Subspecies.
The new species are:
‘Tschui’s’ Nightjar (Systellura decussata)
‘Western’ [Striolated] Puffbird (Nystalus obamai)
Sedge Wren (Cistothorus stellaris)
Bundok Flycatcher (Ficedula luzoniensis)
Merida Brushfinch (Atlapetes meridae)
The Roosevelt Stipple-throated Antwren (Epinecrophylla dentei) was deleted.
Common Loon (Gavia immer) with young by Raymond Barlow
There were some name changes, the biggest one was the forty (40) Brush Finch being renamed Brushfinch.
Here are the other name changes:
Great Northern Loon (Gavia immer) back to Common Loon – Revert to established (North American) name
Crowned Solitary Eagle (Buteogallus coronatus) to Chaco Eagle
Montane Solitary Eagle (Buteogallus solitarius) to Solitary Eagle
Andean Snipe (Gallinago jamesoni) to Jameson’s Snipe
Scaly-throated Earthcreeper (Upucerthia dumetaria) to Scale-throated Earthcreeper
Macgregor’s Bowerbird (Amblyornis macgregoriae) to MacGregor’s Bowerbird
Macgregor’s Honeyeater (Macgregoria pulchra) to MacGregor’s Honeyeater
Sedge Wren (Cistothorus platensis) to Grass Wren
Hood Mockingbird (Mimus macdonaldi) to Espanola Mockingbird
Then in the Taxonomy changes; here are those changes:
The biggest change here was moving the Yellow-shouldered ((Parkerthraustes humeralis) out of the Card family and placing it in the Thraupidae Family because it is actually a Tanager.
Lesser Moorhen (Paragallinula angulata)
Spot-flanked Gallinule (Porphyriops melanops)
Mascarene Parrot (Mascarinus mascarinus)
Chapada Flycatcher (Suiriri affinis)
Dickcissel (Spiza americana) Resequence Spiza as sister to blue cardinals (Cyanocompsa)
All the indexes are up to date except the Last Name – First Name listings. Because it was such a small amount of changes, they will be updated on the next update. The First Name – Last Name indexes are all corrected to the 6.1 Version. (That is the one most people search.)
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4 NKJV)
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:8 KJV)
Black Crowned Crane (Balearica pavonina pavonina) (West African) Brevard Zoo by Lee
I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety. (Psalms 4:8 KJV)
Mute Swan – Riding in Safety
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Only one person commented about whether I should continue these or not, but over 30 of you liked the last one I did. So, this will continue for a little bit longer. At least a week or two. I really enjoy doing them, and trust you are enjoying them.
Guess this can no longer be called Sandra’s New Kooky Challenge, since her challenge is finished. In fact, she was the one encouraging me to continue. I have now challenged her to do some like these, but she doesn’t have to use birds. Scripture, yes, birds, no. Any of you other bloggers like to try your hand at this? Maybe you are into flowers, butterflies, or donkeys, or whatever, for all I know.
If you come up with a name for this series, let me know. I am open to suggestions.
Have a blessed day as you continue reading your emails and blogs.
