I am a Christian woman who greatly enjoys painting and sharing some of the beauty she sees around her. I am very grateful for God’s grace and for this gift of painting that He’s given me…
Please visit her site and see this lovely drawing and her other drawings.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” (John 15:1 KJV)
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing”…”If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” (John 15:4-5, 7-8 KJV)
Avian and Attributes – Vine
Christ says of himself, “I am the vine” (John 15:1). In one of his parables also (Matthew 21:33) our Lord compares his Church to a vineyard which “a certain householder planted, and hedged round about,” etc.). [Easton]
John 15:1 (a) In this case the Lord JESUS Himself is the vine. Those who are saved by His grace are the branches. GOD sees the believer as a very part of CHRIST JESUS Himself. The branch bears the likeness of the vine, and has the same living sap flowing through it constantly. It bears the kind of fruit that characterizes the vine. All the fruit on the vine is found on the branches. Let us be bearing fruit for Him. [Wilson’s Dictionary of Bible Types]
Warbling Vireo (Vireo gilvus) by Raymond Barlow
Vireos
The vireos/ˈvɪri.oʊz/ make up a family, Vireonidae, of small to medium-sized passerine birds (mostly) restricted to the New World. “Vireo” is a Latin word referring to a green migratory bird, perhaps the female golden oriole, possibly the European greenfinch.
They are typically dull-plumaged and greenish in color, the smaller species resembling wood warblers apart from their heavier bills.
Most species are found in Middle America and northern South America. Thirteen species of true vireos occur farther north, in the United States, Bermuda and Canada; of these all but Hutton’s vireo are migratory. Members of the family seldom fly long distances except in migration.[4] They inhabit forest environments, with different species preferring forest canopies, undergrowth, or mangrove swamps.
Males of most species are persistent singers. Songs are usually rather simple, monotonous in some species of the Caribbean littoral and islands, and most elaborate and pleasant to human ears in the Chocó vireo and the peppershrikes. (Vireonidae – Vireo Family)
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)
Shrikes are passerine birds of the family Laniidae. The family is composed of thirty-three species in three genera. The family name, and that of the largest genus, Lanius, is derived from the Latin word for “butcher”, and some shrikes are also known as “butcher birds” because of their feeding habits. They are fairly closely related to the bush-shrike family Malaconotidae.
Most shrike species have a Eurasian and African distribution, with just two breeding in North America (the loggerhead and great grey shrikes). There are no members of this family in South America or Australia, although one species reaches New Guinea. The shrikes vary in the extent of their ranges, with some species like the great grey shrike ranging across the northern hemisphere to the Newton’s fiscal which is restricted to the island of São Tomé. They inhabit open habitats, especially steppe and savannah. A few species of shrike are forest dwellers, seldom occurring in open habitats. Some species breed in northern latitudes during the summer, then migrate to warmer climes for the winter.
Shrikes are medium-sized birds, up to 50 cm (20 in) in length, with grey, brown, or black and white plumage. Their beaks are hooked, like that of a bird of prey, reflecting their predatory nature, and their calls are strident.
Shrikes are known for their habit of catching insects and small vertebrates and impaling their bodies on thorns, the spikes on barbed-wire fences or any available sharp point. This helps them to tear the flesh into smaller, more conveniently sized fragments, and serves as a cache so that the shrike can return to the uneaten portions at a later time.
Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo flavifrons) by Anthony 747
By them the birds of the heavens have their home; They sing among the branches. (Psalms 104:12 NKJV)
The vireos make up a family, Vireonidae, of small to medium-sized passerine birds (mostly) restricted to the New World. They are typically dull-plumaged and greenish in color, the smaller species resembling wood warblers apart from their heavier bills. They range in size from the Chocó vireo, dwarf vireo and lesser greenlet, all at around 10 centimeters and 8 grams, to the peppershrikes and shrike-vireos at up to 17 centimeters and 40 grams.
Most species are found in Middle America and northern South America. Thirteen species of true vireos occur farther north, in the United States, Bermuda and Canada; of these all but Hutton’s vireo are migratory. Members of the family seldom fly long distances except in migration (Salaman & Barlow 2003). They inhabit forest environments, with different species preferring forest canopies, undergrowth, or mangrove swamps.
Males of most species are persistent singers. Songs are usually rather simple, monotonous in some species of the Caribbean littoral and islands, and most elaborate and pleasant to human ears in the Chocó vireo and the peppershrikes. (Info from Wikipedia)
*
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; (Genesis 28:3 KJV)
And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, (Genesis 48:3 KJV)
Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and hast reigned. (Revelation 11:17 KJV)
And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. (Revelation 15:3 KJV)
Listen to Nell Reese play as you watch these two beautifully created families of birds:
The Red-eyed Vireo – The Persistent Singer… ~ by a j mithra
The Red-eyed Vireo, Vireo olivaceus, is a small American songbird, 13–14 cm (5.1-5.5 in) in length. It is somewhat warbler-like but not closely related to the New World warblers (Parulidae).
The Red-eyed Vireo is a Neotropical migrant that makes its way from its home in Central and South America to the deciduous woodlands of North America to select a territory, win a mate and raise its young.
Throughout the eastern United States, Red-eyed Vireos are common in deciduous woodlands. However in Washington they are largely confined to stream and lakeside woodlands and cottonwood stands.
These small birds migrate long distances to win a mate and raise their younger ones..
Though they are birds, they still take so much effort to raise a family..
God has created us in His own image, its good, but, how much effort do we take to win a mate and raise a family?
Isaac was meditating when his father’s servant Eliezer was returning with a bride for Isaac as per Abraham’s instructions….
Now Isaac had come from Beer Lahai Roi, for he was living in the Negev.
He went out to the field one evening to meditate,and as he looked up, he saw camels approaching.
Rebekah also looked up and saw Isaac. She got down from her camel and asked the servant, “Who is that man in the field coming to meet us?”
“He is my master,” the servant answered. So she took her veil and covered herself.
Then the servant told Isaac all he had done. Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death. (Genesis 24:62-66)
How many men meditate on the word of God before they get married?
Is it because of lack of meditation on the word that marriages are not successful these days?
Recent study shows that the rate of divorce is much more than marriages…
Is it because of we lack the fear of the Lord?
God holds marriage in high esteem that is the reason He calls Himself as the bridegroom and the church as His bride..
How much does the church honor the relationship of a husband and wife?
So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs[a] and then closed up the place with flesh.
Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.
The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. (Genesis 2:21-24)
Red-eyed vireo is difficult to see because it forages high in the canopy, picking food from the undersides of foliage, hopping or hovering in the leaves. It is an arboreal bird of the canopy, where it is very active although rather heavy in its movements, maintaining a horizontal posture.
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) by Kent Nickell
This species migrates over long distances, and mostly at night. Red-eyed Vireo is relatively heavy when moving over short distances, but it can be very active too. Its flight is altogether performed in a gliding manner, and when it is engaged in pursuit of a rival or an enemy, it passes through the woods with remarkable swiftness. The small territory of this species consists of a cylinder extending from the forest canopy to the low understory.
Red-eyed Vireos can also be difficult to see because they forage high in the canopy, where they pick food from the undersides of foliage, hopping about or hovering in the leaves.
During courtship and nesting seasons, their prominent, repeated calls readily reveal their presence.
No one can see us when we hide under the shadow of its wings…
But they can hear us worship His holy name..
Well, do we really worship Him all the days of our lives?
The purpose of God creating us is not fulfilled unless we worship Him. After all, God created us to put us in satan’s place to worship Him and Him alone..
If we don’t worship now, the stones will…
And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. (Luke 19:40)
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) by Kent Nickell
These birds are important to maintaining the health of our forests. They consume large quantities of insects and caterpillars harmful to tree foliage. It is an effective predator on gypsy moths, fall webworms, tree hoppers, scale insects and others.
The way we live is important in maintaining the health of our fellow being…
These birds consume large quantities of harmful insects….
God expects our prayerful presence to consume the evil works of satan among our family and friends….
Job prayed for his friends amidst disaster and God blessed him double fold….
Do we pray for our friends like Job?
And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:10)
Red-eyed Vireos glean insects from tree foliage, favoring caterpillars and aphids and sometimes hovering while foraging. In some tropical regions, they are commonly seen to attend mixed-species feeding flocks, moving through the forest higher up in the trees than the bulk of such flocks.
They also eat berries, especially before migration, and in the winter quarters, where trees bearing popular fruit like Tamanqueiro (Alchornea glandulosa) or Gumbo-limbo (Bursera simaruba) will even attract them to parks and gardens. Fruit are typically not picked up from a hover, but the birds often quite acrobatically reach for them, even hanging upside down.
Although animal food makes up 85 percent of its summer diet, the Red-eyed Vireo may be completely frugivorous (fruit-eating) during the winter and late summer. In summer, Red-eyed Vireos feed mostly on adult insects and larvae, especially caterpillars.
During the courtship, male performs displays, flicking on its legs, with fluffy feathers and fan-shaped tail.
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) by Kent Nickell
During incubation, the male sings faster, 50/60 phrases a minute. When it stops, female comes off the nest and it feeds her, or they feed together. They are monogamous. Which means, the female birds is willing to even starve and will not leave its nest until the male bird stops singing..
Do we wait to know God’s will in our lives or do we wait for God’s direction in our lives or do we set about doing what we wish to do?
God became a signpost on the cross of Calvary to show us where to go..
Are we willing to look up to the cross for direction?
Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD. (Psalm 34:11)
Red-eyed Vireo is highly territorial on breeding areas, and it’s very noisy. When it’s wintering in South America, it does not sing.
The breeding habitat is open wooded, deciduous and mixed deciduous forest areas across Canada and the eastern and northwestern United States.
These birds migrate to South America, where they spend the winter. The Latin American population occur in virtually any wooded habitat in their range. Most of these are residents, but the populations breeding in the far southern part of this species’ range (e.g. most of its range in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia) migrate north as far as Central America.
This vireo is one of the more frequent American passerine vagrants to western Europe, with more than one hundred records, mainly in Ireland and Great Britain.
In northern Ohio, it seems to return to breed at about the same time as one century ago; intriguingly, it might actually leave for winter quarters one or two weeks earlier at present than it did in the past..
Nest is built 1, 5 to 20 metres above the ground. Female builds the nest in five days, without assistance from the male. Nest is made of vine-bark strips, grass, needles and twigs. The outer parts are firmly attached to the twigs, the fibres being warped around them in various directions. The lining is beautifully disposed. It consists of fibrous roots, grasses, and sometimes the hair of grey squirrel and raccoon. It is covered on the outside with wasp’s nest paper, and spider webbing. It is a typical vireo nest, suspended by its rim from a horizontally forked twig, or the corner of a tree trunk, and two radiating branches.
Female lays 3 to 4 eggs. Incubation lasts about 11 to 14 days only by female. Both parents feed the young during 10 to 12 days when they are in the nest. Female and perhaps male, continue to feed them for up to two weeks after they leave the nest.
Most likely call to be heard is a nasal, querulous “tshay” or “chway”, although migrants are usually silent.
Persistent song, sung all day, a variable series of deliberate, short phrases.
During courtship and nesting seasons, their repeated calls reveal their presence.
Their persistent song is legendary. It is repeated as often as 40 times a minute, all through the day..
Red-eyed Vireos were once considered one of the three most abundant birds of the forests of Eastern North America.
Their persistent song is legendary. A single individual was once heard to sing 22,197 songs during a single day (Lawrence 1953).
How long and how much do we sing for the Lord?
David sang praises to the Lord at all times and that was the reason God loved him so much..
David sang new songs like these birds that may be another reason for the favours that he won from God..
If these 13 to 14 cm long birds can sing up to 22,197 songs in about ten hours which comes to roughly about 2200 songs per hour which in turn comes to about 37 songs per minute, how much we should sing?
O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth (Psalm 96:1)
This verse was written for God’s own people, but, sadly this bird has taken the cue and we have chosen to shut our mouth rather than to shout to the King…
Come let us sing to win favour from THE KING…
Have a blessed day!
Your’s in YESHUA,
a j mithra please visit us at:
Crosstree
ajmithra21
Lee’s Addition:
Thanks, aj. I enjoyed putting the photos and sound in this one. They are in this area, but I have not seen one yet.
Also, when a j sent in his draft, he included a note to me that I thought was worth placing here. He has been adding great articles for a year now, so this is sort of a “mile-stone article” for him. From the e-mail:
“Hello Sister.Lee,
Its been a great learning experience and a great honor to serve the Lord though your website.. I am thrilled when I turned back and looked at how God has been so full of mercy and an inspiration which He gives us often through Birds.. Its been a year since you published my first article on 4th March 2010.. I just want to say a BIG THANK YOU for letting me be a part of this great site..
Thank you once again..
Regards and prayers to you and yours,
aj mithra”
Lee's Birdwatching Adventures Plus 