Shorebirds ID

When you’re ready to take on the challenge of shorebird identification, this video will give you some simple tips to begin a lengthy but rewarding journey.


Back to the Peterson Field Guide Video Series
“Shorebirds ID” Video is from petersonfieldguides at YouTube

Shorebirds Overview

Shorebirds have a reputation for being difficult to identify, but in reality, the family has a number of distinctive members. This video looks at some of the standouts in the shorebird clan.

 

Back to the Peterson Field Guide Video Series
“Shorebirds Overview” Video is from petersonfieldguides at YouTube

Bird Songs and Sounds

Birds are famous for their beautiful plumage, but their songs and sounds are just as much a part of their identity and day-to-day life.

Video from Petersonfieldguides on YouTube

 

Back to the Peterson Field Guide Video Series

“Bird Songs and Sounds” Video is from petersonfieldguides at YouTubeBack to the Peterson Field Guide Video Series

Birds of the Bible – Foundation #2

We will continue with the Foundation from the Word of God (the Bible) about the creation of birds.

If you have not read “Birds of the Bible – Foundation #1Click Here

By the end of Genesis Chapter 1 the birds (fowls of the air):

Fischers Lovebird by Phil Kwong

Fischers Lovebird by Phil Kwong

  • Created by the Lord on Day 5
  • Each according to its kind
  • Told to multiply and fill the earth
  • Were given every green herb for food (vegetarians)
  • Placed under the dominion of man
  • “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.”

In Chapter 2, the birds are named by Adam. (v 19-20)

At this point, we know that the birds were at their best, they were eating fruits, seeds, herbs and not each other.  The birds had been named according to their kinds by Adam, who was created on Day 6. Their colors and features were at their grandest showing the Glory of God’s wisdom and omnipotence. They must have been fantastic to behold.

BUT WE COME TO GENESIS CHAPTER 3

When the serpent tempted Eve and caused her to question the Word of God, she not only questioned, but added to the Word of God.

Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. (Genesis 3:1-3 KJV

Most of you know the rest of what happened:

  • Eve ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and gave Adam some also.
  • They were caught and tried to pass the blame.
  • The serpent was cursed. Adam and Eve become sinners and pass sin on to their offspring (us).
  • All God’s creation was cursed (Genesis 3:15-19)
  • Death (spiritual and physical) is now present, which had not been before.
  • Because of Adam’s sin, an animal had to die to make “coats of skins, and clothed them”, “God clothes them with a garment which covers their nakedness, a garment which had its origin in death (the death of another), which had come in, but which hid the effects of the sin that had introduced it.” (Darby’s Synopsis)
  • Sacrifices of the blood of animals and birds for man’s sin is begun. Not until the Lord Jesus Christ became the perfect sacrifice (Hebrews 9:12-14) did the need for those sacrifices end.

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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (John 3:16-21)

Somewhere between the Fall of Adam and Eve and the cursing of them and all of creation, the birds, animals,  earth, man, etc. all begin to have changes in their behavior from God’s proclaiming that all was “very good.” By the time of the Flood (Foundation #3), that, “very good” is no longer true.

Several very interesting articles:

Different Kinds of Flesh, by Paul A. Bartz

Even Strange Animals Fit into Kinds, by Paul A. Bartz

Why Does God’s Creation Include Death & Suffering?, by Tommy Mitchell, January 31, 2008, From “The New Answers Book”, Answers in Genesis

How Did Defense/Attack Structures Come About?, by Andy McIntosh & Bodie Hodge, December 27, 2007, From “The New Answers Book”, Answers in Genesis

God’s Amazing Pileated Woodpecker

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)

This first video is a good introduction to the Pileated Woodpeckers. This was produced by Lauri Shubert of SmellLikeDirt on YouTube.

Pileated Woodpeckers use their beaks to:

  • “drum” on hollow trees to let others know that this is their area
  • tear the bark away from the tree to find insects
  • make up to 16 holes in trees for escape in case a predator enters their tree
  • peck at bark to make sap run

A Pileated Woodpecker drumming away on a tree. (by billr444)

With all this use of the Pileated Woodpecker’s beak, it is more amazing that he doesn’t end up with a headache and what’s so unique about its tongue. Watch the following video.

This video is about how the Woodpecker defies Creation, by ExplorationFilms.com.

More audios, from Creation Moments, about the Woodpeckers and how God has created them.

  • The Amazing Woodpecker
  • The Woodpecker’s Amazing Tongue
  • The Woodpecker’s Pantry (Red-cockated Woodpecker)
  • One Smart Woodpecker (Red-cockated Woodpecker)
  • Explaining Too Much (Acorn Woodpeckers)

All Creation Moments are Copyright ©2009 by Creation Moments, Inc., P.O. Box 839, Foley, MN 56329 and used with permission.

Interesting – Migration and Mechanics of Flight

Canadian Geese by Mike Bader

Canadian Geese by Mike Bader

Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my people know not the judgment of the LORD. (Jeremiah 8:7)

Doth the hawk fly by thy wisdom, and stretch her wings toward the south? (Job 39:26 KJVR)

I found this interesting article at Paul Butler’s Production Blog which has audios from Moody Radio.

“For many of us in North America, autumn is characterized by dramatic color, crisp evenings and of course, thousands of birds flying in formation to their winter homes. These features with Dr. Andy McIntosh and Donna O’Daniel look at the mechanics of flight and the science behind bird migration.”

Please listen to the two programs at:
Migration and the Mechanics of Flight – Part I and II

Birds of the Bible – Foundation #1

If you read my blog, Impact of the Answers in Genesis Conference, I stated that the Foundation of the Word of God needs to be emphasized. For the last year, the different Birds of the Bible have been introduced. Where did the birds come from? The byline of this blog is “Birdwatching from a Christian Perspective.”  What does God’s Word say about the bird’s Creation?

Scrub Jay by Mike Bader

Scrub Jay by Mike Bader

Most birdwatchers know that when they pick up a Bird Guide or Book, one of the first thing we read is:

“Having attained the power of flight more than 150 million years ago, birds might be …” (Smithsonian Handbooks, Birds of North America, Eastern Region, page 6)

“Feathered Dinosaurs?
For years biologists have half-jokingly referred to birds as “feathered reptiles.” In part, it is a ploy to annoy bird lovers with the thought that the objects of their fancy are just singing lizards wrapped in stretched-out scales called “feathers.” Yet the phrase reflects an important biological reality: birds are undeniably the modified descendants of reptiles, as their body structure and habit of laying eggs out of water clearly show.”
Archaeopteryx makes an ideal “missing link,” showing characteristics intermediate between reptiles and birds…..One view, still held by many paleontologists, suggests that about 200 million years ago its ancestral line split off from a group of reptiles, the thecodonts.” (The Birder’s Handbook, p. 31-33)

“The Implications of Flight / The central theme of bird evolution is flight. Most avian features can be related back to this fundamental adaptation. The avian forelimbs are dedicated almost entirely to aerial flight, for instance. To meet the diverse demands of survival without hands, birds have been subject to a fascinating evolutionary makeover.”  … “Birds have evolved compact….” (p. 15)  Section called Origins, Evolution, and Classification states – “Bird Are Reptiles – Before the discovery of Archaeopteryx” (“about 150 million years”),” taxonomists had already suggested a close relationship between birds and reptiles because of the large number of anatomical features shared by the two classes of animals.” Goes on to mention “missing link” (p. 39, The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behavior)

On and on it goes. They state as “undeniable facts” many things that come from a “theory.”

But the Word of God, our Bible says differently.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

Continuing through Chapter 1, you find that God, who is the “self-existent”, “three-in-one”, known as “I AM“, did the creation through the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3)

White Pelicans by Mike Bader

White Pelicans by Mike Bader

Day 1 – Light (Day) and darkness (Night)
Day 2 – Firmament (Heaven) in midst of the waters and divided them
Day 3 – Waters (Seas) gathered together and the dry land (Earth) appeared with grass, herbs and fruit after his kind
Day 4 – Sun, Moon, and Stars
Day 5 – Great whales and all water creatures after his kind and the winged fowls (birds) after his kind

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. (Genesis 1:20-23)

Day 6 – Land animals, cattle, and creeping things after their kind

And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:24-26 )

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. (Genesis 1:27-29)

And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. (Genesis 1:30-31)

Day 7 – God rested and blessed and sanctified all His work

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (Genesis 2:1-3)

In Birds of the Bible – Foundation #2, I will bring out some more from the Word of God and articles written about the creation of birds. For now, let me make this observation. If the birds were created on Day 5 and the reptiles were created on Day 6, how did birds evolve from reptiles?

Birds of the Bible – Foundation #2

Updated 2015

Complete Creation – Part 1

The Complete Creation is a series of video by Ian Juby of Creation Ministries of Ian Juby.

Ian is “the president of CORE Ottawa, Citizens for Origins Research and Education.” He is “also the director of the Creation Science Museum of Canada, a member of Mensa Canada and the president of the International Creation Science Special Interest Group for Mensans.” He has also had extensive personal studies in Origins for about the past eighteen years.

There are 22. I hope you enjoy them. Ian Juby has given me permission to “Ya – go for it, post away with the videos.” Thank you, Ian.

Part 1 : Creation/Evoluinon, Who Cares? An exhaustive look at the Creation/Evolution debate with Ian Juby. In this video, Ian introduces Creation and Evolution, and explains why the subject is important. He then introduces the history of the old earth and evolutionary theory.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth

 

All videos in this series are used with permission from Ian Juby at Creation Ministries of Ian Juby

For Part 2 The Old Earth Deception/Evidence for the Global Flood of Noah

God of Wonders DVD at Creation Moments

Creation Moments has just released a new DVD – God Of Wonders

“This brand new 85-minute DVD features Ian Taylor and many other creation science experts … and it includes some of the most breathtaking nature photography you’ve ever seen! Survey the unimaginable size of the universe and ponder the vast energy present in all matter. Examine the elegant water molecule essential for all life and discover how God combines these molecules to form beautiful and symmetrical snow crystals. Learn about the incredible complexity of DNA and the miraculous workings of the tiny seed. From the design functionality of birds to the incredible transformation of butterflies, these and many other features of creation are highlighted in this visually stunning presentation.”

 

I am ordered mine!

God’s Wonderous Creation by Carpentersdaughter

God’s Wonderous Creation by Carpentersdaughter is an invitation  to “take a few minutes to rest in Jesus with His wonderful creation. Then get back to work.” Just thought you might enjoy it.

Video can’t be shown on WordPress from GodTube. See Below

God’s Wonderous Creation from prophecyonthemove on GodTube.

Birdwatching – South Lake Howard Nature Park

Eagle in Tree on a windy day

Eagle in Tree on a windy day

Today we were back at South Lake Howard Nature Park checking out the progress of the Bald Eagles and their two babies. When we got there, one of the eaglets was stretching its wings and looking over the side of the nest. By the time I got my scope set up, it decided to hide most of the time. What is there about getting out scopes or cameras that make birds “skedaddle?” I did get to see it several times through the scope and binoculars. I never saw two at once, but when I let someone else look through it, of course, the two popped up.

One of the adults eagles was sitting in a nearby tree watching. Some Turkey and Black Vultures flew too close for their comfort and the eagle let out its warning cry. My interpretation was, “okay, that’s close enough, now back off!” The vultures were coming by one or two at a time. When a flock of about 20 Boat-tailed Grackles decided to land in the tree where the nest was, that was a different story. The eagle let out several loud calls in rapid succession and then flew over to the nest tree. Needless to say, the Grackles decided to go elsewhere. Later, the other Eagle came to the nest with food and we could see it feeding the eaglets.

Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. (Proverbs 23:5 KJV)

Eagle in nest feeding eaglets by Dan

Eagle in nest feeding eaglets by Dan

It was quite windy this morning and we did not get real clear photos of the birds. Not allowed to get too close either, but some are included. We saw the following birds today:  Mockingbird, Cattle Egrets, Great Egret, 25 Robins, 2 Adult and 2 baby Bald Eagles, Black and Turkey Vultures, American Coots, Common Moorhens, Little Blue Heron adults and 1 immature Little Blue Heron that was still white, White Ibises, Boat-tailed Grackles, Blue Jays, Great Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Yellow-rumped Warblers, Mourning Doves, Monk Parakeets, and Anhingas. We also saw an alligator up on the bank sunning itself.

We were there about a week ago with four homeschoolers we are helping learn about birds. On that day we saw the following:  2 Eagles, Boat-tail Grackles, Black and Turkey Vultures, Blue Jays, Ospreys, Ring-billed Gulls, Anhinga, Fish Crows, Cormorant, Common Grackles, American Kestrel, Cattle Egrets, Mockingbird, Common Moorhens, Yellow-rumped and Palm Warblers, Limkin, Tricolored Heron, Great Blue Heron, White Ibises, Great Egret, Rock Pigeons, Red-winged Blackbirds, Snowy Egret, Pied-billed Grebe, 4 Hairy Woodpeckers, Downy Woodpecker, Blue-gray Gnatchatchers, 2 Wood Ducks, Belted Kingfisher, (31)

American Robin by Dan

American Robin by Dan

For being a small nature park, we always seem to find a fair number of birds to observe. The water is really getting low in the pond. About as low as I have seen it. We are in a draught condition here in Polk County. In 2004, when the 3 hurricanes (Charlie, Frances and Jeanne) visited, there was too much water. We need rain, but not that way.