Birds
Hummingbirds
14/07/20 06:31 Filed in: Animal Kingdom
We went to Marks Ridge Winery for another musical event the other lovely night. The hummingbirds were fascinated with a large red flowered plant to get their nectar from. They were flying to and fro that evening. I tried to capture a few pictures with the phone. I did get some though might be hard to see in the middle left center of the plant picture.
Comments
Birds Don't Read
05/01/17 12:29 Filed in: Photography
I don't think this bird was paying attention to the sign of not going past the fence. The waves were pounding the rocks behind the bird but Hey…
Why Do Birds Fly in V Formation
18/01/14 16:21 Filed in: Animal Kingdom
Scientists have been looking into further the reason why birds often fly in a V formation. There has been a lot of speculation and theory though not a lot to substantiate the reason. Certainly, airplanes flying in the military will mimic that V. It is felt that it adds in air flow to those flying behind and to the side and is more fuel efficient. Here is an article that explains it in more depth.
“Just as aerodynamic estimates would predict, the birds positioned themselves to fly just behind and to the side of the bird in front, timing their wing beats to catch the uplifting eddies. When a bird flew directly behind another, the timing of the flapping reversed so that it could minimize the effects of the downdraft coming off the back of the bird’s body. “We didn’t think this was possible,” Usherwood says, considering that the feat requires careful flight and incredible awareness of one’s neighbors. “Perhaps these big V formation birds can be thought of quite like an airplane with wings that go up and down.” “
“Just as aerodynamic estimates would predict, the birds positioned themselves to fly just behind and to the side of the bird in front, timing their wing beats to catch the uplifting eddies. When a bird flew directly behind another, the timing of the flapping reversed so that it could minimize the effects of the downdraft coming off the back of the bird’s body. “We didn’t think this was possible,” Usherwood says, considering that the feat requires careful flight and incredible awareness of one’s neighbors. “Perhaps these big V formation birds can be thought of quite like an airplane with wings that go up and down.” “
Coastal Symbiosis
05/09/13 12:02 Filed in: Interests
After several visits to the various western states coastal sites, I don’t think I have seen such a gathering of seal types in one location like I did near Cape Arago and Sunset Bay west of Coos Bay, Oregon. It was amazingly noisy with all the “barking” that they do. Interspersed with the different types of seals are birds, such as pelicans. They seem to be at ease with each other and Mother Nature as the ocean waves break over the rocks they share.
