Huge Eurasian Collared Dove in Florida

Video of Huge Eurasian Collared Dove in Florida

Huge Eurasian Collared Dove in Florida - may be a hybrid or "mutant"

This pair of collared-Doves are lighter and a lot larger  than I've seen in the backyard before. See for example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfiFOn84PAc 

which shows a typically grayer and smaller Eurasian Collared Dover in our yard last winter. These may be hybrids or descendants of breeder's birds in Florida. The larger one is probably a male and he towers over a mature male Common Grackle which is a good sized bird. These big Doves are a bit slow and need to watch out for our resident Red-Shouldered Hawks! What a meal they would make....

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Wild Feral Cat Avoids Raccoon

Video of feral cat wisely avoiding a feeding raccoon

Feral cat keeps wary eye on Raccoon.

Not sure if this cat is truly feral, but it is rarely seen in the daytime and always immediately runs into the "jungle" behind the house. The Blue Jays and Mockingbirds, always on guard, make it impossible for it to hunt in the daytime or they sound the alarm and mob it. This cat wisely does not disturb the Raccoon although they use the same trails. More HD videos every week. Please Subscribe at: 

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Spending Time With Mother Raccoon

Video of Quality time with Wild Mother Raccoon

In June Mother Raccoon's are nursing their Kits in their Dens. The male raccoon plays no role in raising the young. She often ventures out in the daytime this time of year as she need extra nourishment for nursing the kits - this is normal behavior  Unfortunately, some people freak out when they seen raccoon's in their yard during the daytime this time of year and wrongly assume the Raccoon has rabies or is sick. This can lead to the unfortunate situation of trapping a mother raccoon and leaving her kits back in the den to slowly starve to death. Most professional trappers/re-locators know this, but many people trap them in their yard themselves and relocate them. They are easier to catch this time of year as they are desperate for food to feed their young. This is not the time of year to be trapping raccoons. 

This raccoon is wild, but we've established a mutually beneficial relationship. This raccoon provides us with precious special moments of insight into her life - relaxing, grooming and taking a nap before heading back to the den.

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Mother Raccoon takes a nap 

Cottontail Rabbit Not Welcome in Red Squirrels Forest!

Video of Eastern Cottontail Rabbit chastised by Red Squirrel

This fellow has a history of outbursts - needs anger management

Eastern Cottontail Rabbit chastised by Red Squirrel

Who could not love a bunny rabbit? - our typically irritable Red Squirrel for one! This rabbit chose to rest under the Red Squirrels favorite tree and the squirrel threw one of its classic rants. The Eastern Cottontail being a somewhat mellow creature took it in stride and even relaxed and cleaned itself up in front of the squirrel adding to its bad mood :-)

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Boat-Tailed Grackle Born With One Leg - A Hardy Survivor in A Tough World!

Video of Boat-Tailed Grackle

Male Boat Tailed Grackle Born With One Leg

The male one-legged Grackle from:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKByxi-eeuI

has been hanging around the feeder for a week and this video from a better angle shows that he is indeed a Boat-Tailed Grackle typically found near the Florida coast, this is the first one noted in our backyard. They are much larger than a common Grackle. The brown Grackle at the beginning of the video is a female Boat-tailed Grackle - almost all brown and much smaller than the male. Judging by his behavior, the one-legged male and her are not on particularly friendly terms. From the slow motion video of his left flank it is clear that there is no thigh or thigh bone attached in front of the tuft of white feathers where it normally would be and the flank is smooth indicating that this bird was probably born with one leg. Grackles are generally common and overlooked birds due to their habits of hanging around public places. This bird is quite the unique individual and a fascinating bird to watch. I wish him well!
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Big One-Legged Grackle - One Tough Bird!

Big One-Legged Grackle - One Tough Bird!

Not sure what kind of Grackle this is but its obviously had a hard life

and has a bit of attitude in this video!

Not sure what kind of Grackle this is, maybe boat-tailed, but its obviously had a hard life

and has a bit of attitude!

I have never seen a Grackle like this in the backyard before. Certainly not your Common Grackle - It wasn't until I edited the video that i noted it only had one leg - or at least one functional leg. Appeared to be a loner and scared off every bird that approached the feeder for over five minutes at peak morning rush hour. Not clearly a boat-tailed or long-tailed Grackle, but had one huge bill that is way out of proportion to a Common Grackles. May not be a native species. It is noteworthy for its unusual sterling silver-colored or mercury -colored legs, very striking. It's an attractive bird despite its attitude.
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Eastern Screech Owl Takes Off for Nest Box

Eastern Screech Owl Takes Off for Nest Box

Eastern Screech Owl Takes Off for Nest Box

Red Morph Eastern Screech Owl 

From May 2nd, 2013 - Red Morph Eastern Screech Owl mother has been outside the nest box on a nearby branch stub all day watching over the nest box  - It's now dusk - the video makes it look brighter out - and she is heading back to the nest box to begin a night of caring and feeding for the owlets.

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Raccoon Reality Show - The Milk Bone Biscuit Challenge - High Speed Night-Vision Time Lapse

Raccoon Reality Show - The Milk Bone Biscuit Challenge - High Speed  Night-Vision Time Lapse

Wild Raccoon Takes on the Milk-Bone Biscuit Challenge!

Wild Raccoon Takes on the Milk-Bone Biscuit Challenge!

Raccoon Reality Athletic and Problem Solving Test. A high-speed time lapse of an overnight Milk Bone Biscuit Obstacle Challenge using a Bushnell 8MP Tropy Cam HD Trail Camera. I got the idea after the Raccoon stole our suet bird feeder:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoEt-dONDKU

I knew he'd get the first two biscuits easily and probably the third - but the fourth and hardest (biscuit #1 in the photo above) - that's tough.
There were two ways to get it - one would be to just walk the rope down from biscuit 2 and grab a hold of it - the second would be to slide the hanging rope with loop that held biscuits 3 and 4 down the horizontal rope and pull it down to within reach. Several times in the video the Raccoon sees the relationship and causality between the hanging rope and the last biscuit. Lowering the rope just an inch or two and he would have easily gotten the final biscuit. Pretty impressive determination in any case! Of course, if Raccoon's had any vertical jumping ability it could be gotten, but I'm not sure they can jump up off their hind feet. If anyone knows different let me know - may be a matter of practice - OMG if they could learn to jump vertically what would that mean?

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Large Wild Red Rat Snake or Corn Snake - Alarm Sounded by Backyard Blue Jays

Large Wild Red Rat Snake or Corn Snake - Alarm Sounded by Backyard Blue Jays

Large Wil Red Rat Snake or Corn Snake in Florida

In this video a large Red Rat Snake nearly five feet long is discovered by Blue Jays - the security guards of the backyard - and the alarm is sounded. When you hear a bunch of Blue Jays making a ruckus in the backyard - grab your camera and head outside! Before I could get my camera set up several Blue Jays had surrounded the snake on the ground and were chastising it severely letting every creature within earshot know about this large predator.  This was still during bird nesting season the first week of May and while the Red Rat Snake mostly eats abundant lizards and small rodents they are known as great tree-climbers and will eat bird eggs and young birds in the nest. Our Screech Owl nest box is "snake proof" so that allows me to feel more charitable to the Big Ratter. It's all a balance, however, as I've seen Red Rat Snakes hanging from the talons of Red Shouldered Hawks in flight a number of times and at night the young Red Rat Snakes make up a part of the Screech Owl diet. One of the most "attractive" of U.S. snakes they are said to make good snake pets :-) . But their striking color tends to make people afraid of them - they are slow-moving, docile if left alone as the video shows and non-venomous. They are too often killed by homeowners. They are pretty much sitting ducks as the video illustrates.  They should not be killed. If you have one of these large beauties in your backyard you can have it trapped and relocated to the wild. Not sure how old this one is, but it likely took at least 4 or 5 years to reach nearly to 5 feet in length.

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Relaxing Nature Meditation - Mountain Rainstorm - Thunder - Birds - Wind Chimes

Relaxing Nature Meditation -  Mountain Rainstorm - Thunder - Birds - Wind Chimes

Recording of Mountain Rainstorm - Thunder - Birds - Wind Chimes

Relaxing Nature Meditation -  Mountain Rainstorm - Thunder - Birds - Wind Chimes

Relaxing Nature Sounds - Rain - Thunder - Birds - Wind Chimes. Sit beside a giant Eastern Hemlock Tree and listen to the passing storm. I was fortunate to record this without unwanted outside noise intruding. It is so rare these days to just be able to listen to the sounds of the natural world in peace and quiet. Enjoy!

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Jack in the Pulpit - One of My Favorite Late Spring Wildflowers!

Jack in the Pulpit - wild flower Great Smoky Mountains

Jack in the Pulpit - wild flower Great Smoky Mountains

One of my favorite late spring wildflowers. This one is in a very wet shaded environment of a small mountain stream. Once the flower falls off the three big leaves can look like Poison Ivy. These flowers are not easy to find in the wild environment.

Screech Owl Eyes - Who's Watching Whoo?

Eastern Screech Owl  watches in heavy cover.

A fleeting glimpse of Mr. Screech Owl

More a tribute to the camera focus than my luck! - a little capture of Mr. Screech Owl on alert in typical heavy cover. After spending all of March, April and early May with the Screech Owl family in and around the nest box - we will rarely if ever see them again until next March. When not nesting they stick to heavy cover. They are around -  just out of sight and quiet until mating season starts next February.

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Male Eastern Towhee Territorial Call - A Bold Statement!

The Eastern Towhee's most distinctive call!

The Male Eastern Towhee call at dusk from high in a tree in the Great Smoky Mountains dominates the bird call landscape with the distinctive "Drink-your-tea-eee". From dawn to dusk - This land is his! Towhees are one of my favorite birds. They have a number of appealing habits including constantly flashing the white feathers in their tail while scratching through the underbrush looking for bugs and seeds. Often heard, but rarely seen for long these birds have quite a personality. 

Eastern Towhee flashes white tail while scratching for food.

Free Eastern Screech Owl Mating Call Ringtone - Subscriber Appreciation!

Free High-Quality Eastern Screech Owl Ringtone Download for YouTube Subscribers and Blog Readers!

Video- Eastern Screech Owl Ringtone Info!

Male Eastern Screech Owl Mating Call Makes a Great Ringtone!

This is the first of many high-quality nature ringtones that I will provide to readers of this blog and Subscribers and viewers of the companion Backyard Birding...and Beyond YouTube Channel. I will try and have a new and interesting nature ringtone every other month. The first is the mating call of a male Eastern Screech Owl recorded in our backyard. This is a bird call ringtone that really sounds like a ringtone - and will get attention! The introduction video is at: http://youtu.be/QpHQ3LFqXC4

If the link on the video doesn't appear on your device here is the link to free Eastern Screech Owl Ringtone. It will take you to a Google Drive page with the name "Screech_Owl_Mating_Ringtone_loud.mp3" in the upper left of the page with a "download" button in the middle. The download address will have a coded URL, but will be put in your download directory with the name: Screech_Owl_Mating_Ringtone_loud.mp3. 

You can download it to your desktop PC and transfer to your phone or download it directly to your phone. I will not provide technical support as there are many devices out there. On my Droid I simply download it to the download directly and then transfer it to the ringtone directory and select it as a ringtone. Most devices are similar. Good luck. Thanks for watching and reading and enjoy your new ringtone!

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American Pygmy Shrew - The Smallest Mammal in the Backyard Is also the fastest!

A Speedy Vole, Unique Mouse or the elusive Pygmy Shrew?

Fast little mammal likes bird seed and is about 3" long total from nose to tail

Visiting the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina I was feeding birds by laying some seed on a flat rock. While watching the birds from a distance I caught a glimpse of this diminutive critter as a blur picking up exactly one piece of bird seed at a time from the rock and jumping back into a hole. It was too fast to note any details so I set up a camera trap and let it run for 15 minutes and caught the little thing going back and forth 4 times.  Even with the video slowed to 1/8 normal speed it's a blur.  I though mole at first and still don't know for sure what it is. There is a great information sheet on the three species of moles east of the Rockies from NC State.  
A screen grab shows it is definitely not mole-like - no big webbed front feet, in fact the feet are kind of dainty - it's apparently omnivorous  and too small - about 3" form nose to tail. It is closer to a mouse in size , but doesn't exactly look like any mouse I know and is pretty small for a Vole. Its hole was about the size of a quarter and it does not tunnel extensively, rather there is a lair under very heavy leaf litter on the edge of landscape fabric held by the large stone at 3,600 feet elevation. Probably a odd coincidence that I put bird seed right next to its house.  You would think it would be easy to ID - What is it? Have any thoughts pass them on. Cute little thing though - and incredibly fast and athletic - I love the way it dives into the hole as a blur even in slow motion. 

Late breaking thought - I didn't consider shrew as it seemed way too small for a shrew without an extremely pronounced snout, but I just found out there is a thing called an "American Pygmy Shrew" known to live in these parts and this little thing shares some of the characteristics - notably the size and feet and a less pronounced pointed nose compared to the typical shrew. The thing is just to darn fast - I'll have to go through the video frame by frame.

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