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Some say that the casualty numbers are overhyped. Other say it is a serious problem. But at the Ivanpah Solar Plant in Nevada, birds are bursting into flames. The bizarre occurrences happen when the bird’s flight paths take them into the ultra-concentrated beams of sunlight produced by the panels at the plant. On spec, the plant seems like the very ideal of energy production for the future: three gleaming towers, forty stories in height capturing the energy from the sunlight reflected by five acres of massive mirrors. All told, the plant generates some 390 megawatts of power from its turbines....

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is quite serious about flying safety. If an aircraft crashes, the FAA will conduct an investigation called a Root Cause Analysis. This involves methodical detective work that tracks events from the moment of the crash back in time. Flight and voice data recorders are invaluable to the inquiry. Root Cause Analysis identifies the most obvious problem that led to the crash and then lists the problem’s cause. That cause is then treated like a problem in itself, and the cause for its occurrence is investigated. This cycle is repeated until the very first cause is...

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It's been 2 1/2 months since the last birdy thread was posted. Florida is a bit too hot for this old man to get out and shoot much in high summer. However, today I had a visitor. A little blue heron was feeding on my front lawn. That seemed a tad unusual. There was also a flock of white ibis. This time of year the ibis begin to gather in larger and larger flocks preparing for their winter migration. I got a face shot of this youngster. Their eyes are cool Several weeks ago I saw a family of Florida...

Last week, RSPB Scotland and the Scottish Moorland Group, whose members include landowners and gamekeepers, clashed over the loss of the eight golden eagles between 2011 and July this year. The wildlife charity believes they were killed illegally around grouse moors, and their satellite tracking tags destroyed. The transmitters being fitted to these birds are exceedingly reliable, and illegal persecution is therefore the most likely explanation of the disappearance of these birds of prey.

This odd habit by our feathered friends has long been theorized, but now German scientists say they have definitive proof for the first time ever. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute in Seewiesen, Bavaria, announced on Wednesday that they had proved for the first time that birds can fly while sleeping and still stay aloft. The researchers were able to monitor the brainwaves and movements of great frigate birds from the Galapagos Islands, whose airborne journeys may last for months. They strapped devices to the heads of female birds to measure brain activity over the course of ten days. […]...

New Zealand is a nation that takes its birds seriously, and it’s got very special ones. The country’s currency is adorned with images of winged species found nowhere else, including the yellow-eyed penguin and the black-masked kokako. The logo of the national air force is stamped with the famed kiwi — a chicken-sized puff of feathers that cannot fly.... “For the first time, technology is starting to make feasible what previously seemed like an unattainable dream,” ... In 2013, environmental activist Gareth Morgan suggested hunting down and killing every feral cat in New Zealand (a proposal that, Morgan told The...

The now thriving pigeon is ready for a home along with 100 other birdsThe baby pigeon with a broken beak was found in April, barely 3 weeks old and about to be euthanized. Instead the vet technician got in touch with Elizabeth Young at Palomacy, a rescue organization for pigeons and doves in San Francisco. It had somehow survived after being attacked by an animal, though its wounds were infected and its beak was split. It had been living on the ground at a gas station, fed by its parents despite its injuries. Today the pigeon is thriving though with...

Enjoy a respite from the sad goings on of the day. Please post and share your pics of birds, nature, anything the Good Lord has created. Remembering Swampsniper....may you rest easy, good man. -------------- Mr Limpkin shared a sun rise with me. There's got to a snail here somewhere! Who are all these strangers invading my territory? Oh deer!

A new study shows that frigatebirds routinely fly for months at a time without landing, skimming the sea surface only occasionally to catch floating prey. Previously, scientists thought these birds and another bird species, known as swift birds, only remained aloft for many days at a time... To stay aloft for so long, the study found, these birds use some of the same techniques that glider pilots do. They take advantage of upward-moving air underneath tropical cumulus clouds — the clouds that often look like popping popcorn kernels in the sky.

Neuron-Packed Bird Brains Point to Creation by Jeffrey P. Tomkins, Ph.D. * The amazing ability of birds to achieve ape-level cognitive traits—and in some cases exceed them like when they emulate human speech—has long confounded the evolutionary paradigm that claims humans evolved from apes. Now the bird intelligence evolutionary quandary has worsened as described in a new research report that shows bird brains contain over twice as many neurons per unit area as ape brains.

The macaw has a brain the size of an unshelled walnut, while the macaque monkey has a brain about the size of a lemon. Nevertheless, the macaw has more neurons in its forebrain -- the portion of the brain associated with intelligent behavior -- than the macaque. That is one of the surprising results of the first study to systematically measure the number of neurons in the brains of more than two dozen species of birds ranging in size from the tiny zebra finch to the six-foot-tall emu, which found that they consistently have more neurons packed into their small...

While millions of birds and bats are dying needlessly, wind and solar power inconsistent energy production cannot replace coal. The world’s economy needs fossil fuels, nuclear energy, and hydro-power that provide a constant source of electricity I saw the once verdant wheat fields of Eastern Europe covered with ugly wind turbines, slowly spinning their huge blades into the wind. A few funnel dust swirls were blowing the topsoil into the air. They did not appear to be connected to any storage station that would distribute the electrical power generated. I searched and found out that they were really not connected...

I had a pretty good morning. Hiked the Lake June Scrub State Park and good shots of the scrub jay and towhee. Came home to find the flycatcher posing in a ficus tree in our front yard; got his pic through the car window. Took a bike ride and found a great egret, a snowy egret and tricolor heron in the same small stream. The snowy and the tricolor worked the great egret. They were positioned about 50 apart. The great egret spent his time trying to shoo off each of them. As one avoided the great egret, the other...

Little Robin Hits Worm Jackpot

With apologies to Islander7, but I haven't seen an “Occasional Birdy Thread” in awhile, so I thought that I would post one. My pictures aren't as great as those posted by Islander7 or fidelis, but it's kind of like singing. All that you really need to do is to sing (or take bird pictures) well enough to entertain yourself. Blue-winged Teal Greater Yellowlegs Greater Yellowlegs with Blue-winged Teal Greater Yellowlegs Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Osprey Eastern Phoebe Solitary Sandpiper

Osprey alights on a snag above his nest to check me out and voice his displeasure with my presence.

Centennial Park in Irving is home to many birds, but none like the duck known as "Manny." A few weeks ago, the Mandarin duck showed up in Irving. Nature photographer Kent Jarrett said people named him Manny.

March 3, 2016 - As I drove home from work, I noticed a sandhill crane on her nest. March 5 - The first opportunity to photograph the crane on her nest. March 11 - Momma crane checks her eggs before settling in for the night. March 17 - The eggs have hatched. They are receiving parental instruction on what and how to eat. Crashing for the night! March 20 - The twins. Poppa crane was not happy to see me today!

I stopped by the lake on my way home from work yesterday for a little mental health break. Watching the activity of birds, turtles and other critters going about their business as they have for eons melts the work-a-day stress. All is well with the world. The bigger picture continues to unfold. My little problems are placed in their proper perspective; now for the weekend! ENJOY!! Glossy Ibis - Check out the colors in those feathers! Sandhill crane checks her eggs before settling in for the night. Whited winged dove. Male I think.