A sweet little chickadee-dee-dee … one of my favorite birds…

The caption reads:

I took this one from the kitchen window at my grandmas house, you get pretty close and the birds can’t see you.

Birds certainly do like windows, don’t they?

Me too.

Look at the birdy in the window…escaping, hiding, drying?

The American Finch is soooooooo sweet. I love it! They come in groups generally and they are so cute chattering about. I really adore these birds. This person caught one hanging outside their window, what a lovely little shot.

Apparently Muslims are forbidden to eat birds (and most animals) and they also will not hurt them, cage them, brand them or get them to fight one another…

“There is no man who kills [even] a sparrow or anything smaller, without its deserving it, but Allah will question him about it [on the judgment day],” – Muhammad

The caption reads:

the bird had wandered into the bakery that morning, picking ample crumbs off the floor. in a moment of panic it flew into the window instead of out the open door, knocking the coffee cup in the corner over. after a few futile moments, a worker came over and gently covered the bird with a cloth, releasing it outside.

http://www.aolartists.com/profiles/olivia-bouler/

And so began “Save the Gulf” operation between Olivia, her drawings and the Audubon Society. As of today, June 11 2010, she has helped raise over $80,000 to help rescue the birds from the oil spill still happening. You can read the news story here. Or visit her AOL artist site and enjoy her drawings here. And you can donate to help save the birds here.

http://www.aolartists.com/profiles/olivia-bouler/

It only takes a willingness to help. And one person can make a difference. Thanks Olivia… you give hope to the future! I look forward to seeing you become an Ornithologist one day. The birds are lucky to have you!

Is that wire thing to keep birds out or to keep them safe? Guess this pigeon made it work for him.

This post will focus on the Northern Gannet, also known as the “Solan Goose” or Morus bassanus. Northern Gannets are the largest seabird in the North Atlantic with a wingspan of 6 to 6.74 feet long!! Quite a big and impressive bird.

According to Wikipedia,

Gannets hunt fish by diving from a height into the sea and pursuing their prey underwater. Gannets have a number of adaptations which enable them to do this:

• they have no external nostrils;
• they have air sacs in their face and chest under their skin which act like bubble wrapping, cushioning the impact with the water;
• their eyes are positioned far enough forward on their face to give them binocular vision, allowing them to judge distances accurately.

Gannets can dive from a height of 30 m, achieving speeds of 100 km/h as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish much deeper than most airborne birds.

The gannet’s supposed capacity for eating large quantities of fish has led to “gannet” becoming a disapproving description of somebody who eats excessively, similar to “glutton”.

Gannets are colonial breeders on islands and coasts, which normally lay one chalky blue egg. It takes five years for gannets to reach maturity. First-year birds are completely black, and subsequent sub-adult plumages show increasing amounts of white.

The most important nesting ground for Northern gannets is the United Kingdom with about two thirds of the world’s population. These live mainly in Scotland and the Shetland Isles. The rest of the world’s population is divided between Canada, Ireland, Faroe Islands and Iceland, with small numbers in France (they are often seen in the Bay of Biscay), the Channel Islands and Norway. The biggest Northern gannet colony is in the Scottish islands of St Kilda; this colony alone comprises 20% of the entire world’s population. Bass Rock in the Firth of Forth, Grassholm in Pembrokeshire and Bonaventure Island, Quebec are also important Northern gannet breeding sites.

In Popular Culture, 

• In many parts of the United Kingdom, the term Gannet is used to refer to people that steadily eat vast quantities of food especially at public functions.

• The Gannetwhale is a hypothetical descendant of the gannet seen in the television show The Future Is Wild.

• The Cape Gannet is featured in the 2008 film Wild Ocean.

Some photographs of gannets by Andrew Green at http://www.flickr.com/photos/polandeze

Photo by Andrew Green (http://www.flickr.com/photos/polandeze)

Photo by Andrew Green (http://www.flickr.com/photos/polandeze)

Photo by Andrew Green (http://www.flickr.com/photos/polandeze)

Read on to see more photos of the Northern Gannet…