Partially Leucistic Red-breasted Nuthatch
The challenge of bird photography
Resting in the meadow
Leucistic Red-breasted Nuthatch
Mule Deer buck
Time to rest awhile
Resting near the Cattails
Uncommon American Three-toed Woodpecker
American Three-toed Woodpecker
Three-toed Woodpecker
A local Great Horned Owl
Cream and wine-coloured
A cute little cluster
A fun find
Gathering in the forest
Yesterday's find
Merlin
Chinook arch over Calgary
Rusty Gilled Polypore / Gloeophyllum sepiarium
Merlin on the hunt
Merlin eating a dragonfly
Merlin removing dragonfly's wings
Guardian of the path
Before the snow arrived
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Fall colours in Fish Creek Park
Posting just for the record
Young and innocent
Who made these holes?
Fish Creek Park on New Year's Day
For Chiara
Bebo Grove, Fish Creek Park
Highly invasive Caragana
American Three-toed Woodpecker
Partial Leucistic Red-breasted Nuthatch
American Three-toed Woodpecker
American Three-toed Woodpecker male
Rare (in Alberta) American Three-toed Woodpecker
American Three-toed Woodpecker
Colours of fall
Admit it - you think I'm cute
Visiting the city
A quick stop on the railings
Fully focused
Watching us closely
Sensuous curves of snow
Listening
Out in the open
A picture of cuteness
Boreal Chickadee
Close encounter of the owl kind
Little cutie in pink
You can always count on a Chickadee
Bathed in sunlight
Narrowleaf Stoneseed
Slime Mold, Fuligo septica
Life is all about conquering hurdles
In the spotlight
Nectria cinnabarina, 'Coral Spot'
Mule Deer
Red Squirrel
A tasty meal of fresh, green grass
Focussed on feeding
Eye-catcher
Red Squirrel
Little owl - way, way up
Little owl - in the Spruce tree
The demise of a Meadow Vole
Looking for lunch
Partial compression
Hey, remember me?
Hanging on
Red-breasted Nuthatch
I'm outta here
Hoary Plantain
Face to the sun
Bishop's-cap
Mourning Cloak
Return of winter
Fallen
Northern Pygmy-owl
King of the Spruce tree
Winter's playground
Consolation prize
Uncommon Northern Pygmy-owl
Well, hello there
Manitoba Maple
Wavy shadows
American Three-toed Woodpecker
Hoping for a Brown Creeper
Three-toed Woodpecker - from the archives
Wildflowers of spring
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170 visits
Down in the forest
These Woodpeckers are huge and so impressive - almost prehistoric looking! When the sun shines through that red crest, it glows!
“Pileated woodpeckers, the largest woodpeckers in North America, hammer their heads into trees with a force of 15 mph, 20 times a second. So how do their heads not turn to mush? Thick muscles, sponge-like bones, and a third eyelid keep bird brains intact. "If you get hit hard in the head, you can break blood vessels behind the eye or traumatize nerves behind eye," said University of California Davis ophthalmologist Ivan Schwab. ‘Seeing patients in car accidents and knowing what woodpeckers do made me wonder why these injuries don't happen in woodpeckers.’
Last fall, Schwab was honored with an Ig Nobel award, the irreverent version of the Nobel Prize, for his research on how woodpeckers avoid headaches, published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
Along with their straight-as-an-arrow strikes at the tree, which safeguards against head trauma, birds' bodies are designed to absorb the impact. One millisecond before a strike comes across the bill, dense muscles in the neck contract, and the bird closes its thick inner eyelid. Some of the force radiates down the neck muscles and protects the skull from a full blow. A compressible bone in the skull offers cushion, too. Meanwhile, the bird's closed eyelid shields the eye from any pieces of wood bouncing off the tree and holds the eyeball in place. The eyelid acts like a seat belt and keeps the eye from literally popping out of the head," Schwab told LiveScience. "Otherwise, acceleration would tear the retina." The outside portion of the eye itself is firm, filled with blood to support the retina from being jostled around.
Bird brains also remain rigid during head banging. Injuries to the human head make our brains bounce back and forth in the cerebral spinal fluid, bathing the organ, but woodpeckers have virtually none of this fluid. While scientists can't be certain that woodpeckers don't get headaches, Schwab pointed out that the birds are at least very tolerant of headaches.” From Science on NBC News, 1 August 2007.
www.nbcnews.com/id/16531772/ns/technology_and_science-sci...
We saw this one yesterday, 27 October 2015, down in Fish Creek Park, during a three-hour walk from Bebo Grove to Shannon Terrace and back. It was a sunny day, calm, 2-6°C. Also saw a second Pileated. Neither were close, hence this rather distant shot that leaves rather a lot to be desired : ) It gives you an idea, though, of the habitat these breathtaking birds live in.
The following is the final list of species seen, compiled by the leaders of the groups:
Canada Goose-40+
Swan sp., -14
Merlin-1
Downy Woodpecker-8
Hairy Woodpecker-4
AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER-3
Northern Flicker-1
Pileated Woodpecker-2+
Blue Jay-10
Black-billed Magpie-15
Common Raven-6+
Black-capped Chickadee-50+
BOREAL CHICKADEE-2
Red-breasted Nuthatch-15
White-breasted Nuthatch-3
Brown Creeper-3
Golden-crowned Kinglet-2
Townsend’s Solitaire-2
American Robin-8
Pine Grosbeak-5+
House Finch-6
Red Crossbill-8
White-winged Crossbill-30+
Common Redpoll-3
Pine Siskin-10+
Red Squirrel-18
White-tailed Deer-1
Mule Deer-4
“Pileated woodpeckers, the largest woodpeckers in North America, hammer their heads into trees with a force of 15 mph, 20 times a second. So how do their heads not turn to mush? Thick muscles, sponge-like bones, and a third eyelid keep bird brains intact. "If you get hit hard in the head, you can break blood vessels behind the eye or traumatize nerves behind eye," said University of California Davis ophthalmologist Ivan Schwab. ‘Seeing patients in car accidents and knowing what woodpeckers do made me wonder why these injuries don't happen in woodpeckers.’
Last fall, Schwab was honored with an Ig Nobel award, the irreverent version of the Nobel Prize, for his research on how woodpeckers avoid headaches, published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.
Along with their straight-as-an-arrow strikes at the tree, which safeguards against head trauma, birds' bodies are designed to absorb the impact. One millisecond before a strike comes across the bill, dense muscles in the neck contract, and the bird closes its thick inner eyelid. Some of the force radiates down the neck muscles and protects the skull from a full blow. A compressible bone in the skull offers cushion, too. Meanwhile, the bird's closed eyelid shields the eye from any pieces of wood bouncing off the tree and holds the eyeball in place. The eyelid acts like a seat belt and keeps the eye from literally popping out of the head," Schwab told LiveScience. "Otherwise, acceleration would tear the retina." The outside portion of the eye itself is firm, filled with blood to support the retina from being jostled around.
Bird brains also remain rigid during head banging. Injuries to the human head make our brains bounce back and forth in the cerebral spinal fluid, bathing the organ, but woodpeckers have virtually none of this fluid. While scientists can't be certain that woodpeckers don't get headaches, Schwab pointed out that the birds are at least very tolerant of headaches.” From Science on NBC News, 1 August 2007.
www.nbcnews.com/id/16531772/ns/technology_and_science-sci...
We saw this one yesterday, 27 October 2015, down in Fish Creek Park, during a three-hour walk from Bebo Grove to Shannon Terrace and back. It was a sunny day, calm, 2-6°C. Also saw a second Pileated. Neither were close, hence this rather distant shot that leaves rather a lot to be desired : ) It gives you an idea, though, of the habitat these breathtaking birds live in.
The following is the final list of species seen, compiled by the leaders of the groups:
Canada Goose-40+
Swan sp., -14
Merlin-1
Downy Woodpecker-8
Hairy Woodpecker-4
AMERICAN THREE-TOED WOODPECKER-3
Northern Flicker-1
Pileated Woodpecker-2+
Blue Jay-10
Black-billed Magpie-15
Common Raven-6+
Black-capped Chickadee-50+
BOREAL CHICKADEE-2
Red-breasted Nuthatch-15
White-breasted Nuthatch-3
Brown Creeper-3
Golden-crowned Kinglet-2
Townsend’s Solitaire-2
American Robin-8
Pine Grosbeak-5+
House Finch-6
Red Crossbill-8
White-winged Crossbill-30+
Common Redpoll-3
Pine Siskin-10+
Red Squirrel-18
White-tailed Deer-1
Mule Deer-4
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