Saturday, May 31, 2014

Florida Bear Relaxes in a Hammock !


Florida Bear Relaxes in a Hammock !

The Florida news was abuzz with a "cute" story about a black bear relaxing in a Daytona Beach man's backyard hammock. A quick check of YouTube reveals that bears relaxing in hammocks are not that uncommon (see below), they are after all extremely intelligent creatures. Unfortunately there have been too many bear stories in the news in Florida this year and quite a number of bears have paid with their lives. When bears and humans - who have moved their subdivisions and urban sprawl into the bear's territory - come into contact unfortunate events all too often are the result - in some cases humans are attacked - in almost all cases bears are killed by wildlife or law enforcement officials. People lately seem surprised the bears visit "their" yards. Many people enjoy the peace and quiet of a "country lifestyle" and like green spaces and conservation preserves etc., but don't realize the responsibility that comes with living nearer to nature and sharing space with wild animals. Hopefully bears and humans can coexist, but all too often unnatural food sources are made available to the bears and it is only natural that they will take advantage of it. Generations of bears are being habituated to human/pet food and garbage. I recently was paid a visit by a mother bear and her three cubs looking for food - they made a quick sweep of the porch finding a little bird seed in a deck box and moved on. I now keep nothing at all edible in there or anywhere on the property. They were a sweet family and I hope they can continue to live and grow wild and free, but that means that knowing they are around I have to act responsibly to avoid attracting and encouraging them. The worst thing to do is knowingly feed bears. Feeding the bears is against the law and endangers the next person to encounter a fed bear and is a death sentence for the bear.











Saturday, May 24, 2014

Curious Bear Cubs



Big Mother Bear and her three healthy cubs, born over the winter, pay a visit to the front porch in the Great Smoky Mountains. Mother Bear deftly flips open the deck box with her nose which contains a bird feeder put away for the night and the three cubs find the box endlessly fascinating in addition to a pair of flip flops. One of the cubs does a nasty header trying to get down from the box at the 1:05 mark, but shakes it off! The young are flexible.

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Black Bear Cubs

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Hand Feeding A Brown Thrasher Peanuts


A Brown Thrasher had secretly been watching from the heavy brush behind the Backyard as I was hand-feeding my Blue Jay friend 
and suddenly appeared on the fence one day wanting a peanut too! At first I would throw the peanut on the ground and reward the Brown Thrasher for showing up, but it became a battle of quickness between the Blue Jay with the Thrasher losing by being reluctant to take a peanut. After a time the Brown Thrasher learned to wait for me by the fence and rapidly take a peanut. Not being one to hang around and socialize the normally stand-offish Thrasher quickly takes its peanut deep into the brush to crush and eat!

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Brown Thrasher

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Cute Chipmunk Steals A Kiss From a Rabbit



A Chipmunk Steals A Kiss From a Rabbit. I starting filming this little Chipmunk who was vacuuming bird seed in a circle around the Cottontail Rabbit like a Rumba when it did the most unexpected thing and clearly steals a kiss from the Rabbit and bounds away. Slow-motion shows it clearly. Nature never ceases to entertain! Judging by the Rabbit's reaction I'm not sure the relationship has much of a future......

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Sunday, May 18, 2014

Eastern Box Turtle

The Eastern Box Turtle is an extremely attractive reptile that inhabits the eastern US. It's conservation status is considered vulnerable due to habitat loss and road and farm machinery kills. This beautiful specimen was assisted in crossing the road - however, use extreme caution in doing so. It may be mating season as this male with the red eyes was on the move. They make great pets, but should not be taken from the wild. Long-lived, this fellow could easily be 30 years old or more.

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Eastern Box Turtle

Robin Eating at Suet Feeder


This American Robin is eating voraciously at a suet feeder. Something I have not seen before. They are typically too big, long legged, and uncoordinated to hang onto the feeder basket, but this one found a convenient foothold to belly up to the rich banquet of suet that it had never tasted before! They have a nest in a nearby tree. 
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Robin Eating at Suet Feeder

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Nature Meditation - Thunderstorm Sounds Recorded Inside a Flycatchers Nest Box!


Nature Meditation - Experience 25 minutes of a raging thunderstorm from inside a Great Crested Flycatcher nest box. Sit alongside mother flycatcher as she guards five eggs while  a storm rages outside.

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Flycatchers Nest Box


Wild Cottontail Rabbit Grooming


A Cottontail Rabbit picks the perfect rock to do its morning grooming and get ready for its busy day. After completing its morning grooming the rabbit demonstrates the preferred way to eat long Dandelion stems.

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Wild Cottontail Rabbit Grooming


Monday, May 12, 2014

The Real Bigfoot



The mysterious "Bigfoot". High in the Great Smoky Mountains in an Old Growth Eastern Hemlock forest at 4000 feet elevation lives a creature that has evolved to stand on two huge feet incredibly out of proportion to the rest of its body and attached to powerful legs to take advantage the unique primordial forest environment - it runs incredibly fast and makes amazing jumps to escape. I was fortunate to capture a video of its feet from just the right angle and have given this Creature the name of "Bigfoot"  

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The Real Bigfoot

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Red Squirrel Mother's Day



A typical Mother's Day at the Red Squirrel house is a wild scene and there always seems to be some sort of high drama - even in just a 3 minute video clip. Mother Squirrel is always on high alert and keeping an eye on the five little ones!

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Red Squirrel Mother's Day


Saturday, May 10, 2014

American Crow Calling



American Crows are not that common in the Backyard. Occasionally a large flock passes through in the winter making a big noise. None are permanent residents. This solitary crow seems to be in need of friends and seems to not be part of a family unit. It Spent a few days making calls from the highest tree and then moved on. 
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American Crow Calling

Osprey Eating Fish



Osprey or "Fish Eagle" makes a return to the Backyard and eats a fish it caught from nearby canals on one of their favorite fish-cleaning dead long-leaf pine branch perches. 

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Osprey Eating Fish



Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Great Crested Flycatcher Lays 5th Egg in Owl Nest Box



Great Crested Flycatcher nesting in the Screech Owl Nest Box laid the fifth egg yesterday (4/30/14). The unusual low vocalizations she continues to make when she first enters the nest box remind me of the Screech Owls in the nest box and may be some kind of bonding with the eggs that the mother is accomplishing or just a habit like "humming" .

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Great Crested Flycatcher Lays 4th Egg in Owl Nest Box


Great Crested Flycatcher nesting in the Screech Owl Nest Box laid the fourth egg yesterday (4/29/14)  and promptly covered them up with snake skin. Because she is standing very close to the microphone when she enters the box you can hear some unusual vocalizations that are more like interpersonal communication rather than calls. These low vocalizations would not be heard out in the open at a distance. This is similar to the Screech Owls internal communication which is very low. She has begun more frequent incubation - it is said when all the eggs are lain she will then incubate continuously.

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Great Crested Flycatcher Lays 4th Egg in Owl Nest Box

Great Crested Flycatcher Lays Third Egg in Owl Nest Box



Great Crested Flycatcher nesting in the Screech Owl Nest Box laid the third egg yesterday (4/28/14)  and promptly covered them up with snake skin. The snake skin relationship is interesting - I suppose there is a lot of snake skin around judging by the Black Racers and Rat Snakes, but what an effort it must take to find them all - and the intelligence required to realize what great cushioning material it makes for the eggs.
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Great Crested Flycatcher Lays Third Egg in Owl Nest Box

Monday, May 5, 2014

Common Grackle Flock Leader Call



Common Grackle Flock Leader makes a striking pose at the highest point on a tree against a clear blue sky. This is the leader and he puts his whole body into motion to make a series of calls you normally don't see Grackles make unless they are in a flock passing through.  Grackles are not permanent residents of the backyard they pass through in small flocks from fall to early spring and not seen again until fall. 

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Common Grackle Flock Leader Call

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Relaxing Nature Meditation: Chuck Will's Widow Calling and Tree Frogs Croaking !


Relax to 25 minutes of Chuck Will's Widow Calling and Tree Frogs - just sound - too dark for video to show up. One of the more unusual and repetitive bird calls - it only calls for a few days before dawn and in the evening - usually in late April or Early May in Florida to find a mate then it is totally silent most of the year. After getting about five minutes of the calls for an early recording I captured this nearly 30 minute continuous recording of the calls between 530 and 6 am in the morning. These calls will either lull you off to dreamy sleep with memories of yesteryear and/or Nature in general - or they might just drive you nuts - there seems to be no middle ground on the calling of the Chuck Will's Widow!

The image used in this video is in the public domain (source):
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:52_Chuck-will%27s_Widow.jpg
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Chuck Will's Widow Calling

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Small Wasps on White Flower



Small wasps collecting pollen/nectar on small white flow. A simple descriptive title and scene, but I liked the way the backlighting came out with bright sunlight on the flower in macro mode. Not sure what type of wasps these are - there are so many varieties that collect pollen and nectar. Pollen wasps tend to be bigger with club like antennae. 

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Small Wasps on White Flower

Groundhog Breakfast and Beautiful Bird Songs


A large, wet Groundhog heads out for his breakfast while a plethora of birds sing their hearts out. The most notable songster is the Eastern Towhee, how many others can you identify?

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Chuck Will's Widow Call - Nightjar - Goatsucker - Frogmouth



A Chuck Will's Widow call is something you will never forget. One of those rare birds that is named for the sound of its call - like a Whip-Poor-Will, to which it is related.  A Nightjar or "Goatsucker" Chuck Will's Widow is noteworthy for its huge gaping mouth, sometimes called a Frogmouth, and is hardly ever seen. Spending its time well concealed on the ground in heavy brush during the day. It is  mating season in the woods behind the backyard - and a time for singing - and singing - and singing! It typically calls from tree limbs - sometimes for hours in the pre-dawn and post-dusk hours. This is the most mysterious of the Backyard birds and one I've never personally seen, but have been very close to in the dark. This recording was made at 5:30 in the morning. A graph of the sound recording clearly shows the three "words" of the Chuck Will's Widow call. Typically the "Chuck" is much lower and softer and harder to hear, but if you listen carefully you'll hear it on most calls except when the frogs crank up the volume. 

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The images used in this video are in the public domain (source):

Chuck Will's Widow Call



Chuck Will's Widow Call
A sound graph of the Chuck Will's Widow call showing the regularity of the repeated calls and the three "words" that make up each and every call, although the first word can be hard to hear.



Chuck Will's Widow Call