Month: November 2013
The Supracoracoideus – An Ingenious Adaptation For Flight
When I was teaching high school zoology I was fascinated by the many adaptations of birds for flight. Still am. One of them is a unique muscle arrangement that allows the return stroke of the wing while maintaining aerodynamic stability. I hope you’ll allow me a little change in direction with today’s post as I attempt to explain and illustrate one of the anatomical adaptations of birds for flight.
Perched Barn Owls With A Snowy Background
Wilson’s Snipe Feeding Technique
A Fly Turns The Tables On A Flycatcher
Kite String – Yet Another Death Trap For Birds
Several years ago the neighbor kids in the home behind and adjoining my back yard would occasionally fly kites from their own yard. Given the small size of their lot and the many mature and very large trees in the neighborhood it was a kite-disaster waiting to happen. I had no inkling at the time that it would also be a disaster for a bird.
Magpie With Nesting Material In Flight
One of the reasons I like to see iridescence in Black-billed Magpies is that it brings out detail in those areas of the deep blacks where you normally don’t see any. Flight shots are inherently more difficult than static shots but ironically I find it easier to get the iridescence to show in flight than I do when they’re perched.
Wilson’s Snipe
Ferruginous Hawk Nests
A Greater Yellowlegs And Its Weather Loach Prey
Northern Harrier “Playing”
My Love-Hate Relationship With Phragmites
I have a complicated relationship with Phragmites. Though some strains are native to North America, much more vigorous invasive varieties from Eurasia haven taken over many of our wetlands and proven to be extremely difficult to control. Dense “reed stands” of Phragmites with their dramatic seed plumes waving in the breeze can be strikingly beautiful but they’re a huge problem in our wetlands.
A Menacing Look From A Male Northern Harrier
Centennial Valley Cedar Waxwings
Fledgling Cliff Swallow
The Supracoracoideus – An Ingenious Adaptation For Flight
When I was teaching high school zoology I was fascinated by the many adaptations of birds for flight. Still am. One of them is a unique muscle arrangement that allows the return stroke of the wing while maintaining aerodynamic stability. I hope you’ll allow me a little change in direction with today’s post as I attempt to explain and illustrate one of the anatomical adaptations of birds for flight.
Perched Barn Owls With A Snowy Background
Wilson’s Snipe Feeding Technique
A Fly Turns The Tables On A Flycatcher
Kite String – Yet Another Death Trap For Birds
Several years ago the neighbor kids in the home behind and adjoining my back yard would occasionally fly kites from their own yard. Given the small size of their lot and the many mature and very large trees in the neighborhood it was a kite-disaster waiting to happen. I had no inkling at the time that it would also be a disaster for a bird.
Magpie With Nesting Material In Flight
One of the reasons I like to see iridescence in Black-billed Magpies is that it brings out detail in those areas of the deep blacks where you normally don’t see any. Flight shots are inherently more difficult than static shots but ironically I find it easier to get the iridescence to show in flight than I do when they’re perched.
Wilson’s Snipe
Ferruginous Hawk Nests
A Greater Yellowlegs And Its Weather Loach Prey
Northern Harrier “Playing”
My Love-Hate Relationship With Phragmites
I have a complicated relationship with Phragmites. Though some strains are native to North America, much more vigorous invasive varieties from Eurasia haven taken over many of our wetlands and proven to be extremely difficult to control. Dense “reed stands” of Phragmites with their dramatic seed plumes waving in the breeze can be strikingly beautiful but they’re a huge problem in our wetlands.