"Bird Facts!" and news

Hey! Time for a quick "Bird Facts!" and some news about my epic birdy stuff. It was my birthday on Friday so we went to the Arundel Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre (WWT). There is tons of exotic Anatidae (ducks, geese, swans, wildfowl is what I could have said but I like to be SPECIFIC!!!! no there was no need for the !!!!'s). One of the ones I liked best was the Coscoroba Swan (Coscoroba coscoroba (what an imaginative scientific name!), featured in the "Bird Facts!"). I don't know why. Any way I will do a whole post on that BEFORE THE EGGS AND NESTS LUCKY PEOPLE IS YOU. Unfortunately I can't show you every photo we took because there is 216 of them. I LOVE THAT PLACE. It makes those birds I read about in The Great Book Of Birds a reality, not just paintings in the book (albeit very good ones). I discovered some birds I did not even know existed, chatted about scopes, all sorts of stuff SO GO THERE!!! It is totally like a boss.

"Bird Facts!" 

The Coscoroba Swan (Coscoroba coscoroba as mentioned earlier) is the smallest swan in the world with a legend call (I like it anyway) that it is named after. "Cos-cor-oo!". At the AWWC I (having never seen one in my life) mistook it for a   White Call-duck, a breed of domestic Mallard (see the post on domestic Mallards that look like wild Mallards) that was also there when it had it's head in the water. By contrast, the Trumpeter Swan with a scientific name I love (Cygnus buccinator, no, I don't have a clue why I like it so much) is the largest swan, the largest waterfowl in the world and the heaviest bird native to North America. HOLY CRAP IT IS HUGE! I think those Trumpeter Swans are going "Like a boss! Like a boss! Like a like a like a boss!" at the moment.

Trumpeter Swans, the largest swans. Look at them.
They are laughing at how small that Mallard is. Photo by Lynn M. Stone.

Coscoroba Swan, the smallest swan. Photo by me at the AWWC.

"Bird Facts!"

Hey! Here comes!!:

"Bird Facts!" 

Adelie Penguin. Tiny but one of the
most aggressive penguins!

Emperor Penguins.
THIS IS NOT PHOTOSHOPPED!!

The flightless Great Auk is an extinct bird very sadly. I would like to see a live one of these pretty much double-sized Razorbills with normal-sized Razorbill wings! The Great Auk was the original penguin, hence the Latin name, Pinguinus impennis, "imperial penguin". The penguins we know today are called so because of their similar shape, flightlessness and swimming ability to the Great Auk. The last breeding pair were killed on Eldey off the coast of Iceland and their egg smashed in 1844. The last sighting of this species was in 1852.
Again, thanks to all the epic people who take photographs of wildlife. 

A stuffed Great Auk, one bird I will never see
and will mourn forever.

The only known illustration
of a Great Auk drawn from life, Ole Worm's pet
received from the Faroe Islands. 

   

"Bird Facts!"

Well, double posts for the day! I just read a thing abou parallel evolution in birds and it was epic so I had to do a "Bird Facts!" about it. Here comes:

"Bird Facts!"

The Common Swift, Apus apus (as an example of the swift order Apodiformes THEY ARE NOT PASSERINES) is a very similar shape to the House Martin, Delichon urbicum (as an example of the Hirundinidae of the order Passeriformes THEY ARE PASSERINES). You could be forgiven as a "light" or beginner birdwatcher for believing the two to be in the same family. However, these two birds are an example of parallel evolution which is awesome. The two birds live in similar habitats and so have developed the same characteristics, despite being unrelated. If you see a swift (any Apodiforme) on the floor, unable to fly, pick it up and chuck it! Apodiformes have little muscles in their legs so cannot jump and take of from the ground. Bird-nerds call this "launching" a bird. When it hits the floor and becomes immobile, we call it "grounding". Only then if it can't fly do you consult an expert. Martins, river-martins and swallows differ from the swifts in that they frequently land and have muscular legs (they are Passeriformes, DUH.) and so can launch themselves.  BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Common Swift (Apus apus)

House Martin (Delichon urbicum)

i can't think of a title

Hi. I am just saying there WILL be a proper post coming up but it will take a while so it may not be done today. If it is taking too long, I have my "Falcons. Because they are." post ready. This is a post about falcons that I made ages ago and reserved for a time when I will need it to fill in a "gap in the posting". Well, the next post if it is not "Falcons. Because they are." will be "Eggs and Nests - Common Garden Birds". I'M ON A ROLL!! I will do more stuff on eggs and nests because it is VERY (VERY VERY VERY VERY etc) important to know that if you see a group of four similar oval pebbles, YOU MUST NOT STEP ON IT OR YOU WILL BE THE MURDERER OF FOUR BEAUTIFUL BIRDS called Little Terns.

Sterna albifrons, "white-fronted sea swallow", the Little Tern -
mother and chick (not quite the graceful image of his mum!)

Little Tern eggs. See how hard
it is to  see them now?

Little Tern chicks. They look just as much like pebbles as the eggs.

Bye for now!

"Bird Facts!" and a bit more STUFF (stuff rules)

Hi. Firstly, stuff:

DON'T FORGET PEEPS!!: the Friends Of Park Wood festival is this saturday!

Secondly, "Bird Facts!":

"Bird Facts!"

The Red Kite has a wingspan of 1.8 metres yet only weighs 1 kilogram (females are often larger). It is debated whether the Cape Verde Kite is a full species or a subspecies. MtDNA studies show that the Cape Verde Kite developed separately from the Red Kite, supporting the theory of it being a full species.

Red Kite

Miscellaneous Photos

Sorry about the lack of posts guys and gals. Today I will show you a load of photos taken on a few birdwatches/garden birdwatches. Nought more to say. Here we go!:

Wood Pigeon No. 1 on our tv aerial.

Wood Pigeon No. 2 on our chimney.

Wood Pigeons No. 1 and No. 2 from further off.

Wood Pigeon No. 4 n next door's tv aerial.

Wood Pigeon No. 4 on our shed roof.

Wood Pigeon No. 4 0n our "mini greenhouse".

Wood Pigeon No. 1 had by now moved to the trees out the back gate.

Wood Pigeon No. 1 from a bit further away.

a Common Rough Woodlouse on the wall.

Magpie (Common Magpie to those in other countries where other magpies occur) on the tv aerial, taking the place of Wood Pigeon No. 1. 

Mr (or Mrs don't know) Magpie preening.

A spider. NOT LIFE SIZE. I would not have taken this photo  if that was life size. It was really a tiny money spider with the photo taken with macro. 

Dandelions in the garden, soon to become Malcolm and Frances food. Anyone who is not familiar with Malc and Fwance, here they are:

Malcolm (Malc) is the Blue Dwarf Lop and Frances (Fwance) is the Blue Dutch (I think she is a Blue-black Bidutch but the vet says she is Blue Dutch). Those unfamiliar with rabbit breeds, Frances is the dark blue (technically) and white one and Malcolm is the mid blue one. Grey or dark grey is called blue in some breeds but blue in other breeds such as Blue Beveren it is literally blue. BUN FACTS!!

Lesser Celandine in the garden.

Peacock Butterfly at the Forest of Bere

Close-up of the Peacock Butterfly.

Ermagerd Ermaberd! I did not create this. Search "ermagerd" or "ermahgerd" in google images and it will show some of the most hilarious memes I have ever seen. Ermahgerd, a berber herperpertermerse! Also search "Bunway Airlines" for some fab rabbit-themed memes.

 BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!! again, sorry for the lack of posts. Will be some more, trust me.