Birds

Nienna said:
voyageur said:
I had no idea just how complex and incredibly suited their tongue's are for capturing nectar - as a function (in the animation seen here) of biological design, it is truly remarkable.

The Genius of Birds: Watch a Hummingbird's Tongue in Action
David Klinghoffer June 18, 2013

We recently got a hummingbird feeder for our back porch and my kids were delighted to see how quickly the local hummingbird population discovered it. I tried to explain to them what's so amazing about the creature's tongue. Watch this clip from the new Illustra documentary Flight: The Genius of Birds. Paul Nelson's commentary is also very eloquent and appropriate.

_http://www.evolutionnews.org/2013/06/the_genius_of_b073491.html

That was, to me, fascinating.
Very fascinating! Such little jewels.
 
A little update on the humming birds who have been with us at home through the spring and summer. They generally have been noted to arrive on or near the full moon and depart same or sometime in the first week of September. The full moon came and went and there is this sense that they will fly any day now. One reason for this may be that the wasps and hornets that appeared towards the beginning of August have become increasingly intense in numbers. The hummingbirds do not like them one bit and the wasps bully them off their feeder aggressively - so they are likely getting just plain tired of them and they will leave soon on their long travel south - they are a joy always to see and remember, so i give thanks to them for letting me feed them all season and enjoy their being. Will be :( yet :) to see them go.
 
Birds have fascinated me ever since I can remember, but how I felt really sunk in when I killed a fantail with a catapault as a kid. Shock!

Birds also interest me for their esoteric significance. In Wave 7 on page 82, there is a discussion on this with the Cs. And then we have the "language of the birds" and the symbolisim of birds with higher thought. I was also contemplating just today, how birds occupy levels of sky, and thereby must have degrees of perception which are not shared by all birds equally. I was relating this to the model of density levels 1 through 7 which we are all familliar with, and how levels of knowledge give one certain perceptual experience. Colin Wilson was fond of calling these flights of perception "A birds eye view". In this vein, perhaps it is interesting that predator birds usually occupy the higher levels.

Getting back to the discussion on birds - the C's talked of Penitent Avian lords, Templar Carriers, and the source of our language as the Estruscans, who were these Templar Carriers, which brings us back to the language of the birds - symbols of something very important to us as Inner Man methinks. I wonder when I see flocks of birds cart-wheeling and spinning in the sky in perfect unison if I am seeing the 3D effect of 4D consciousness.

I have two parrots, one of which I hand-raised, and these creatures KNOW external considering. And I KNOW but cannot prove that my parrot companions communicate with me using a language which seems to be a mixture of telepathy and body posture. The hand raised one, Bottles the bloke is on the left. Lollipop, the sheila, is on the right.



The other day I saw for the first time two Magpies playing on my front lawn, each taking turns to lie on their back in mock submission. I saw no difference in this behaviour than that I would see in a couple of puppies or kittens. That was a special treat! :cool2:
 

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I have regular visits from tree sparrows, pidgeons, blackbirds and doves. I feel it my duty to make sure my garden is a safe haven for them with plenty of food available.

I dunno if others do this but I give them nicknames :)

I love to watch the sparrows come and go - often with the sparrow in authority making his presence known to his troop.

The blackbirds often land and forage through areas Ive just cleared. I love their trust, knowing I mean no harm to them.

When birds introduce their young to my garden I feel so proud.

Bird watching beats the TV everytime.
 
Tumble said:
Getting back to the discussion on birds - the C's talked of Penitent Avian lords, Templar Carriers, and the source of our language as the Estruscans, who were these Templar Carriers, which brings us back to the language of the birds - symbols of something very important to us as Inner Man methinks. I wonder when I see flocks of birds cart-wheeling and spinning in the sky in perfect unison if I am seeing the 3D effect of 4D consciousness.

The C/'s are quoted about the Penitent Avian Lords in Wave 7, and I read therein later that the reference was to "The Conference Of The Birds" by Farid Ud-Din Attar. The Conference of the Birds is a wonderful and very wise book within which I am finding many insights that gel with the spirit of cassiopaea I think. You'll do doubt love it too.

The other day I saw for the first time two Magpies playing on my front lawn, each taking turns to lie on their back in mock submission. I saw no difference in this behaviour than that I would see in a couple of puppies or kittens. That was a special treat! :cool2:

I feel like I am especially blessed when I see these cumbersome black and white birds (Magpies) playing with each other on my lawn. Yesterday two were playing at lying down on their sides, once again taking turns - The actions of these intelligent birds sometimes just stuns me it is so magical. And I have found out that if you give them a little food, they will not dive bomb you when they are nesting. That has got to be a plus! :lol:

Virtualme said:
Bird watching beats the TV everytime.

That is so true for me as well. And to think we could be so arrogant as to consider birds as 'less than' us.
 
Now that's a bird's eye view! Tiny cameras attached to the back of gannets reveal what they get up to 300 miles out at sea



https://youtu.be/SFTqqpBT6DU?feature=player_detailpage

Gannet seabirds fly up to 300 miles out at sea to feed on fish but until now scientists had no idea what they got up to while away from their colonies.

To solve this mystery, researchers from the University of Exeter and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) attached tiny cameras to the back of the seabirds to track their behaviour.

The cameras recorded the birds as they flew over the Pembrokeshire coastline of West Wales and discovered they circle at 30 metres high before diving for fish at speeds of up to 60mph.

Scientists have been trying for years to understand how the large white seabirds spend their time at sea.

Gannets fly these distances to feed on fish forced to surface by whales and dolphins.

The birds have air sacs underneath the skin on their faces and chests that act like bubble wrap and cushion the impact with the water.

Dr Steve Votier from the University of Exeter said the state-of-the-art miniature cameras were developed by the RSPB Conservation Science team.

‘Seabirds spend most of their time at sea away from their nesting sites making them difficult to study.

‘This camera really helps shed light on their behaviour away from the colony. It allows us to more accurately investigate their reliance on discards from trawlers and how they interact with other birds while far from land.

‘Gannets are long-lived seabirds and there is still much to learn about their life away from the breeding colony.

‘The goal is to continue this work in the long-term to help provide a sustainable future for gannets and other marine life.’

The gannets used in the study nest on the island nature reserve of RSPB Grassholm in Pembrokeshire.

The northern gannet is Europe’s largest seabird, with a wingspan of around two metres, and nests on steep cliffs and rocky islands.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2503696/Now-thats-birds-eye-view-Cameras-attached-gannets-reveal-300-miles-sea.html



article-2503696-195E854D00000578-569_634x382.jpg


article-2503696-195DA83900000578-214_634x392.jpg

Grassholm island, pictured, is home to the fourth largest northern gannet colony in the world with just under 40,000 breeding pairs nesting there. It is a designated European Special Protection Area (SPA) and measures just around the equivalent of 13 football pitches in size - eight miles off the Welsh coast


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Some years ago, I was lucky enough to be invited by a local conservation organisation to visit and land on the above pictured island to closely view the near 40,000 gannets
that nest there. As you might imagine it was quite an overwhelming experience - the
dazzling white of all those birds (and all that guano!), the diving activity of thousands of birds against a blue sky, the deafening raucous calls and the smell of seawater and guano all combined to continuously assault the senses. In brief, a wondrous alien world.

A truly unique and unforgettable memory - far better than any TV nature program ! :)
 
A couple of more years have gone by taking interest in Hummingbirds, so watching, feeding and enjoying their presents. With the weather/geological changes, each year I wonder if they will be back. This year they arrived here at home from Mexico a good two weeks early. It was hot (April), so suspected they might fly in a little early, yet have never seen them until at least April 29 or into May. While their eggs lay somewhere in nests nearby in June, the weather had turned cool, yet they were pretty feisty during the day and soaring after each other in courtship and play. Today I saw this little paper hanging on a wall and thought to offer a photo of it here:
 

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When I wake up in the morning I take Shay (service dog /friend) out back through my patio to relieve herself. I have many plants, shrubs, places for my winged guests to purch. The three ft. tall small brick wall which encloses my pa tio has several feeder bowls setting on it. One has just peanuts, and I also have a water bowl. On the metal stand I placed a decorative shelf and keep a cake of meal worms with fruit. All gets refilled and water changed in the morning. It's a delightful ritual for me. As I do all of this the birds are fluttering about in the resident tree which gives my patio shade. I cannot see the birds (legally blind) but I can hear them. I can tell by the songs that I must have around five types of bird visiting me.
One flew into my apartment one afternoon. I was sitting in the living room. I could not see it but heard the "whirr"of its wings. It circled several times. I wasn't certain what to do. So I simply pointed calmly to the slider where it had entered and said "that's the way out". The bird circled once more than left.
Hoping that doesn't happen to often. Don't want them to become injured.
It feels for me as if I run a little place of love and safety for the plants and birds.
A little piece of paradise. :)
 
Tarri said:
...I cannot see the birds (legally blind) but I can hear them. I can tell by the songs that I must have around five types of bird visiting me. One flew into my apartment one afternoon. I was sitting in the living room. I could not see it but heard the "whirr"of its wings. It circled several times. I wasn't certain what to do. So I simply pointed calmly to the slider where it had entered and said "that's the way out". The bird circled once more than left.
Hoping that doesn't happen to often. Don't want them to become injured.
It feels for me as if I run a little place of love and safety for the plants and birds.
A little piece of paradise. :)

Very nice, Tarri. Anytime one can interact with birds in a positive way kind of lifts the spirit.
 
For me anyway, this was kind of a nice story to arrive in my inbox that I figured to share here. I had not the same, yet a similar incident in which a hummingbird hit the window and my one dog lay beside it protecting it with his paws until it could move and regain flight. This story has a great little video to accompany it:

Hummingbird rescued by dog

Up until last year, Rex was a dangerous, feral dog.

After he was rescued by California man Ed Gernon, Rex calmed down and settled into domestic life.

So settled did he become, Rex even rescued an animal himself - a hummingbird that had fallen from a tree and was close to death near Gernon's home in Whittier.

Now the two are inseparable, mostly because 'Hummer', as she is known, refuses to leave Rex's side, even going as far as to share a water bowl with him.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3566431/She-total-crush-Adorable-hummingbird-refuses-leave-Rex-dog-rescued-bottom-tree.html
 
The Raven & the Robins

I've no video or photos with this, just a description from an unfortunate beginning of the day for the Robin family at home.

The early morning waking dawn stirred with a cacophony of birds outside the bedroom window. I’ve been always aware of birds sounds and weary sometimes while in the forests as a crescendo of shrieking birds can mean a bear has a kill in the area – the birds get excited that they, too, may get to feed.

Anyway, my partner first checked it out and called me outside, and there a meter away from a pile of feathers was a just killed young adult Robin; it had been alive when found by my partner. Above in the trees were two other adult Robins and a third adult was nearby. What to make of it? Perhaps a squabble among them - a fight? No, this was revealed not long after as a Raven tried to come back to claim the body of the little bird it had obviously killed. However, the Robins would have none of this and defended the body of the departed with amazing steadfastness against the large Raven, beating it back, chasing it off in the air and defending their community of the now lost.

This is nature people will say, and true enough, and yet it was a glimpse of families, of their loss, their anger, defensiveness and grieving – how could I think this was not on a similar emotional level as we adhere to, just thinking in terms of 2d and not acknowledging their deep connection as thinking, communal and emotional little winged beings – it was sad to behold.

Two things became apparent, one, the Raven would come back and take the little birds body for food, or it would decay where it was, and thus I decided to head back outside and bury it in the garden – yet it was gone, the Raven had its food and there was nothing for me to do.

A few hours later while heading towards my vehicle to head out, there the Robins were again in fits of screaming – and then the Raven’s head popped up from over a slight rise. The Raven was trying to grab the deceased Robin once again in its beak. However, the two Robins started attacking the Raven – swooping at its head, and the did not give up, not once. The Raven finally lifted off the ground and headed a short distance into the trees of the forest with the Robins beloved among its beak. Still, the Robins perused up into the limbs and continued their attack – branch by branch as the Raven hopped up to the next one higher.

I lost sight of them, the Robins and the Raven, and yet this was on my mind throughout the day; not the act nor the outcome – that could not be stopped, it was seeing Robins as I’ve never seen them and really, it showed their complete connectedness and their unbridled suffering and complete concern and care for the body of one of theirs who was no longer.

These family or communal traits are more than obvious with some in the more familiar species; aquatic, land or air, and seem to exist perhaps with most, if not all species if we could actually see or interpret their language or signs.

No video or photos with this, just a description from an unfortunate beginning of the day for the Robin family at home.

The early morning waking dawn stirred with a cacophony of shrieking birds outside the bedroom window. I’ve been always aware of birds sounds and weary sometimes while in the forests as a crescendo of shrieking birds can mean a bear has a kill in the area – the birds get excited that they, too, may get to feed.

Anyway, my partner first checked it out and called me outside, and there a meter away from a pile of feathers was a just killed young adult Robin; it had been alive when found by my partner. Above in the trees were two other adult Robins and a third adult was nearby. What to make of it? Perhaps a squabble among them - a fight? No, this was revealed not long after as a Raven tried to come back to claim the body of the little bird it had obviously killed. However, the Robins would have none of this and defended the body of the departed with amazing steadfastness against the large Raven, beating it back, chasing it off in the air and defending their community of the now lost.

This is nature people will say, and true enough, and yet it was a glimpse of families, of their loss, their anger, defensiveness and grieving – how could I think this was not on a similar emotional level as we adhere to, just thinking in terms of 2d and not acknowledging their deep connection as thinking, communal and emotional little winged beings – it was sad to behold.

Two things became apparent, one, the Raven would come back and take the little birds body for food, or it would decay where it was, and thus I decided to head back outside and bury it in the garden – yet it was gone, the Raven had its food and there was nothing for me to do.

A few hours later while heading towards my vehicle to head out, there the Robins were again in fits of screaming – and then the Raven’s head popped up from over a slight rise in the grass. The Raven was trying to grab the little Robin once again in its beak, and then the two Robins started attacking the Raven hard with their desperation – swooping at Ravens head, hitting it even, shrieking at it continuously - and they did not give up, not once. Nonetheless, the bigger Raven finally lifted off the ground and headed a short distance into the branches of a fir tree in the forest with the Robins beloved among its beaks. Still, the Robins perused, flying up into the limbs and continued their attack – branch by branch as the Raven hopped up to the next one higher.

I finally lost sight of them, the Robins and the Raven, and yet this was on my mind throughout the day; not the act nor the outcome – that could not be stopped, it was seeing Robins as I’ve never seen them, and really, it showed their complete connectedness and their unbridled suffering and concern and care for the body - and could it also be said for the spirit, of one of theirs who was no longer.

These family or communal traits are more than obvious with some in the more familiar species; aquatic, land or air, and seem to exist perhaps with most, if not all species if we could actually see or interpret their language or signs.

https://corvidresearch.blog/2014/06/20/do-crows-reduce-other-songbirds/

… Do crows {Ravens in this case} indeed drive down populations of small, “desirable” backyard birds?

The short answer is: not usually. Now, let’s be clear, crows will absolutely kill and eat eggs, nestlings and even adult birds if they can get their hands on one. I once saw a crow take down an adult house sparrow in an attack so quick and dexterous I only realized what had happened after the crow had already started eating its meal. It’s important to keep in mind, however, that crows are one of many, many animals that are eating the young and adults of other bird species. Raccoons, squirrels, foxes, hawks, owls, bullfrogs, rats, mice, and of course cats will all gladly eat birds, especially eggs and nestlings. The vulnerability of young birds is in fact why the breeding strategy of many birds is to have multiple clutches over the course of the breeding season. Crows themselves are subject to these same predators and very few of their young will make it to adulthood….

A neighbor of ours recently observed a large Blue Heron taken out of the sky by two Eagles – one Eagle to herd it and the other to swoop in and bring it down into the wetlands.

Life: precious, fragile, impermanent.

Thanks for reading.
 
Thanks for the post voyageur. I fully understand where you are coming from.

I spend a lot of time in nature birdwatching - as it gives me great "soul food"; and contentment. Most of the time the bird behaviors that I observe are very human in nature; and not sometimes what you would expect from 2D animals. I often also see little birds attacking predators fearlessly to defend their nest; save their friends, or just making a defensive statement by standing their ground. I too am just amazed at the bravery of the behavior. Sometimes the predators are way bigger - but yet the small passerines hover exactly behind their head, slightly above their wings, relentless attacking them to defend their turf, disregarding their own safety. Behaving truly with connectedness and feelings - but yet we are told Birds don't really "think" like that.

This may be just nature - but I feel that spending time observing nature is itself truly educational, and can teach us a lot about 3D,4D and life itself.
 
Mr.Cyan said:
This may be just nature - but I feel that spending time observing nature is itself truly educational, and can teach us a lot about 3D,4D and life itself.

Yes, I think so too. Thank you for sharing, voyageur.

voyageur said:
What to make of it? Perhaps a squabble among them - a fight? No, this was revealed not long after as a Raven tried to come back to claim the body of the little bird it had obviously killed.

Another possibility is that the little bird was fatally injured by another big bird or another predator, and the raven saw it, and went for it so to speak when it was abandoned. Ravens can be very observant, and he may have seen what happened, and then went in.
 
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