Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Great Blue Heron Eats Large Fish



Great Blue Heron Eats Large Fish

Great Blue Heron spears a large Mullet and then quickly swallows it and washed it down with a few sips of water. Great Blue Herons are some of the largest birds in Florida and are always fascinating to watch as they patiently stalk their prey and often spear it with their sharp bill.

New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 



Great Blue Heron Eats Large Fish


Saturday, December 26, 2015

Squirrel Mother and Father - Tender Moments - Beautiful Music



Squirrel Mother and Father

Gray Squirrel Parents show incredible tenderness with the father attending to grooming and massaging the Mother who has been nursing three kittens for almost two months and no doubt needs some attention. It is very rare to capture this parent bonding behavior on film. This kind of non-sexual interest in the Mother's well-being is rather striking and charming and implies there is much more to squirrels than just base "animal" instincts. Typically the male who in this case is the "Bull Squirrel of the Backyard" has nothing to do with raising the young and is rather gruff - see  - Male Gray Squirrel Dominance Behavior  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFl2v0rO1zw
The story of this incredible mother raising her three Kits whom she spends a lot of time grooming and cleaning to keep them healthy in the cramped nest is at this Playlist:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9ODW2GQ3n8J5c5QH_0U05TwHnttEBnMW

New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 




Northern Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbird
Northern Mockingbird photograph taken at: Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge


The northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) is the only mockingbird commonly found in North America. This bird is mainly a permanent resident, but northern birds may move south during harsh weather. This species has rarely been observed in Europe. This species was first described by Linnaeus in his Systema Naturæ in 1758 as Turdus polyglottos. The northern mockingbird is renowned for its mimicking ability, as reflected by the meaning of its scientific name, 'many-tongued mimic.' The northern mockingbird has gray to brown upper feathers and a paler belly. Its wings have white patches which are visible in flight.

The northern mockingbird is an omnivore. It eats both insects and fruits. It is often found in open areas and forest edges but forages in grassy land. The northern mockingbird breeds in southeastern Canada, the United States, northern Mexico, the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands and the Greater Antilles. It is replaced further south by its closest living relative, the tropical mockingbird. The Socorro mockingbird, an endangered species, is also closely related, contrary to previous opinion. The northern mockingbird is listed as of Least Concern according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The northern mockingbird is known for its intelligence and has also been noted in North American culture. A 2009 study showed that the bird was able to recognize individual humans, particularly noting those who had previously been intruders or threats. Also birds recognize their breeding spots and return to areas in which they had greatest success in previous years. Urban birds are more likely to demonstrate this behavior. Finally, the mockingbird has influenced United States culture in multiple ways. The bird is a State bird of 5 states, has been used in book titles, and has also been used in popular songs and lullabies among other appearances in U.S. culture.

Gray Squirrels Eating Pine Cone Nuts


Pine Nuts are tasty! Squirrels are excited about a bumper crop of Longleaf and Slash Pine Cones this Fall. It takes much hard work, but under each "leaf" of the giant cones is a tasty pine nut that squirrels - and humans - love. The Longleaf Pine's cones are huge up to a foot long and heavy - weighing more than the squirrel. Once the squirrel has chewed a skinny "handle" it will try and drag the cone to a safe place to finish them off. This is also great food for humans. Stands of Longleaf pines once covered much of the southeastern US, but today they are becoming rare due to past timber harvesting and rampant development as they take many decades to reach up to 60-100 feet tall. Even the more common in this area Slash Pine's are getting rarer. They are both a critical part of the natural habitat and the conservation area behind the Backyard has a rare stand of original native longleaf pines exceeding 60 feet. Toward the end of the video you will see another squirrel in a slash pine eating pine nuts and note the difference in the cones.

New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 


Gray Squirrels Eating Pine Cone Nuts

Cooper's Hawk Kills Dove At Bird Feeder


A Cooper's Hawk took out a large Eurasian Collared Dove at the bird feeder right before my eyes!  That is the way of Nature.... The big Dove is considered an invasive species in Florida and is probably a choice target of the Hawk due to it's large size and slowness to take off compared to native Mourning Doves. The Hawk was apparently hiding in the dense cover of the nearby oak tree and hit the Dove with an explosion of white feathers from only about 10 feet away with incredible acceleration. The bigger,slower Red Shouldered Hawks could never do that - they need much more room. Only the Red Shouldered Hawk has been seen in the Backyard before so the Cooper's Hawk is a new species documented. The jungle behind the backyard is good  Hawk habitat with dense undergrowth and tall longleaf pine trees, but that has traditionally been the breeding area of the Red Shouldered Hawks. I suspect this Hawk will be back.......it is the new top predator of the Backyard ecosystem and the squirrels need to be wary - I will need to re-examine my feeding practices if these new Cooper's Hawks start staking out the Backyard so that I don't make it any easier for them.
New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 

Cooper's Hawk Kills Dove At Bird Feeder



Tuesday, December 15, 2015

Mockingbird Singing


Northern Mockingbird calling from the top of the Backyard oak tree. Mockingbirds are common in many backyards but here they keep a lower profile owing to a large family of Blue Jays that run the backyard. Mockingbirds never come to feeders here, but love birdbaths and prefer fruit and insects they can pick from the trees. Morning is their time to sing from the highest tree, but alas the ever-growing noise pollution of civilization competes with their beautiful songs as you will hear in the middle of the recording.
It is becoming harder and harder to find true silence in Nature.

New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 



Mockingbird Singing

White Breasted Nuthatch Attacks Camera


A White Breasted Nuthatch - the Backyard curmudgeon - takes his unwillingness to share food out on my camera lens which must look like another nuthatch and a poor, but determined, Dark-Eyed Junco who keeps trying to snatch a quick meal.




New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 


White Breasted Nuthatch Attacks Camera



Black Bear Abnormal Stereotypic Pacing At Nature Center


A large male Black Bear repetitively pacing endlessly on his well- worn path at the Western North Carolina Nature Center in Asheville, NC. Sadly, this is all too common behavior of large carnivores in zoos. This bear is making the exact same moves that polar bears and grizzly bears often make in captivity. There are many articles on this unfortunate side effect of putting large animals in captivity and what might be done - a few are linked below. The WNC Nature Center was clean and the people no doubt well-meaning and caring and the enclosure was actually quite large with boulders and trees etc., but this poor bear exists for a fair amount of time each day judging by the path he has worn pacing within an "imaginary cage" about 30 feet long. This "psychosis" and the very exaggerated head turns made at each end are classic symptoms many large bears display in captivity. The large Black Bear that I film in the wild in the Great Smoky Mountains each summer has a territory of thousands of acres and only visits every 10-14 days - perhaps this lack of territory has a lot to do with this captive bears behavior (see: https://youtu.be/r-byBTm43c8 ). I don't know the history of this bear, perhaps he was a rescue bear that had a hard cage-confined life in captivity starting at a young age. I have always had mixed feelings about zoos - preferring to see animals in the wild in their natural habitat - but zoos reach millions each year and large carnivores are a big draw, but they are the animals least suited to captivity.  There can be no enjoyment in seeing a captive animal exhibiting this behavior.  
More information:
New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 



Black Bear Abnormal Stereotypic Pacing



Friday, December 4, 2015

Painted Bunting Spotted in New York City!







Amazing bird news out of New York City this week as a mature male Painted Bunting was spotted in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. It has caused quite an uproar among the birding world and no wonder - the mature male Painted Bunting is known as the most colorful songbird in North America and a personal favorite of J. Audubon himself. A very rare and elusive bird Painted Buntings have been coming to the Florida backyard every October for years. The eastern population tends to breed and summer in the coastal Carolinas - rarely as far north as New Jersey in the summer, but New York City in winter - that's almost unheard of. This handsome fellow in NYC should be down here in my backyard! The immature males and female Painted Buntings are and attractive jade green and wonderful in their own right - but nothing can compare to the male - that is why he is called nonparallel. Typically they stay in the dense brush behind our backyard from October to April and the ratio of mature males to "greenies" is typically 4 or 6 six green to one crayola. Enjoy him Big Apple while you can - even the amazing Painted Bunting can get New Yorker's excited that's saying something! Press story from the New York Times!













Thursday, December 3, 2015

Barred Owls Amazing Hooting Contest


Incredible Barred Owl Hooting Contest!  Haunting "Who Cooks for You" calls echo through the deep forest as two Barred Owls compete back and forth in the afternoon in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Who will Out-Hoots who? Filmed in October 2015 this may be a territorial squabble as they are several hundred yards apart and high in the forest canopy. 

New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 


Barred Owls Amazing Hooting Contest
Photo Source:  US NPS, Everglades NP, Florida


Carolina Wren Song "Cheater Cheater Cheater"


Carolina Wren calling "Cheater - Cheater - Cheater" rapidly eleven times loud and clear. The Carolina Wren is a small bird with a big singing voice and in my experience prefers the cover of deep brush and woods and is difficult to photograph in their true wild forest environment like this. I caught a glimpse of it making the first string of "cheater" calls, but could not find it in the deep cover on video. Often their call is a loud "Teakettle Teakettle Teakettle" but here the rarer "cheater" call is unmistakable!

New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: 

Carolina Wren Song

Eastern Phoebe Calling Fee-Bee


Eastern Phoebe rapidly singing their primary song "Fee-Bee" high in a treetop on a cloudy, windy day. In case you weren't sure how to pronounce "Phoebe" the little bird is telling you! Later you'll hear their "chip" call. Poor filming environment at long distance in poor light, but in this case the bird call was the goal. These birds are arriving on their winter roosting area and behave very differently that when they are up north in warmer months breeding. Down here they are quite elusive - typically staying high in the big trees like their equally elusive full-time resident cousin the Great Crested Flycatcher. I left this video unedited so you can get a sense of the challenges.
New HD videos uploaded frequently. Subscribe at: