Cute Male Eastern Gray Squirrel assisting me in evaluating 4K video on new Motorola Droid Turbo 2 Smartphone. He works for peanuts! Uploaded directly from Droid Turbo 2 using YouTube App including adding music. 1 minute file size 350 MB. Sound is pretty good, you can hear the squirrel crunching his peanuts at close range and hear the backhoe very loud digging up the neighbors backyard. Droid Turbo2 4K video player has very basic editing features, but trim process was very quick and easy. A test example of a seascape using 4K can be found at: https://youtu.be/5aYMHDwhJLc
Should be viewed at full 4K resolution on a 4K device to be fully appreciated.
An unusual bird of southern swamps and marshes, the Limpkin reaches the northern limits of its breeding range in Florida. There, it feeds almost exclusively on apple snails, which it extracts from their shells with its long bill. Its screaming cry is unmistakable and evocative. Photograph taken at Loxahatchee NWR, Florida.
Painted Buntings - called nonpareil by Audubon for having "no equal" have begun returning to the Backyard for winter - so far they have been "Greenies" - females and immature males in emerald green. The mature male Painted Buntings in red, blue and green - known as the most colorful songbirds in all of North America have not shown yet. The first glimpse of them is always an exciting moment. They generally stay until late April. You will also see the arrival of the Catbirds with the Buntings!
Baby Red Squirrel's first foray out into the world and it smartly runs for cover when a big Blue Jay wants some of the suet. A full grown Red Squirrel with over-sized ego would fight off a Blue Jay for food, but this little babies survival instinct is correct. You don't realize how small it is until you see the size of the Blue Jay in comparison. So far I have only seen one red squirrel fledgling this fall, this may be the eldest with more to leave the nest soon.
The World's largest bird is cute and irresistible in its own way - what with those big brown eyes and outgoing nature. Amazing how it towers over a large SUV. Not filmed in the Backyard, but at Lion Country Safari, Florida.
Relax and contemplate the life of this truly wild and feral Bengal mix cat that survives in the conservation area behind the Backyard. He is rarely seen and it's even rarer to get this big tomcat on film. But checking out some Blue Jay noise behind the back fence I accidentally discovered the big cat's daytime napping spot without him knowing - it was windy and noisy and I was upwind - you will see him smelling into the wind. This encounter was filmed with the camera held over my head just above the fence using the tilt screen so the cat didn't see or sense me until about the six minute mark when I made some noise. Like the ghost that he is - he disappears into the jungle - where humans don't tread! He is a descendant of an abandoned Bengal Cat - his existence - and the plight of all feral cats is human-caused. I have no intention of interfering in this cats life, he is a rat and invasive lizard eater for the most part and he lives with and like the wild creatures that he is - you can see it in his lean, hard cougar-like face. He will never habituate to humans and will live a much shorter life than a typical pet house cat! For previous videos on this amazing cat see: The Secret Life of a Feral Cat:
I hope to have a full-length documentary update on this cat later this Fall. If you want a cat for a pet - go to a shelter and adopt one!
Most feral/stray cats lead much different lives than this cat and live in colonies in high density. To find out more about feral cats and what you can do visit the National Feral Cat Day website: http://nationalferalcatday.org/
Or visit Alley Cat Allies -
http://www.alleycat.org/page.aspx?pid=388
Background Music:
The Dark Glow of the Mountains by Chris Zabriskie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Monarch Butterflies heading south on their Fall migration pass through the vast forested Great Smoky Mountains looking for isolated meadows with wildflowers to refuel. It is getting late for this area as most wildflowers at higher elevations are dead, but I managed to spot three in an hour on October 12th. Monarch Butterflies are under considerable environmental pressure and in danger of disappearing. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has a Monarch banding program. More information at the links below: http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/pollinators/Monarch_Butterfly/migration/index.shtml http://www.gsmit.org/CSMonarchTagging.html
A Live feed of three fast-growing baby gray squirrels now about six weeks old living in a Woodpecker Nest Box has been broadcast daily since late October. This Youtube playlist contains the archives of these broadcasts! Their eyes have started to open a bit at time and their fur is filling out fast and there tails are long and curly. Mom leaves them alone most of the day because it is so hot and checks in a few times and spends all night with them. If you have never seen baby squirrels in nature you are in for a rare treat. Below are a few daily snapshot of their development. Cute and funny doesn't begin to describe these little ones! Subscribe to the YouTube channel and keep up on the squirrels and all the other nature subjects that appear in this blog :
Relaxing, soothing, and healing feast for the eyes and ears - Monarch Butterflies feeding on purple thistle on their annual migration to Mexico set to ambient music. No loops, static images or repeats - this is 20+ minutes of original migrating Monarch Butterfly videos set to an outstanding ambient soundtrack. Filmed on October 20th, 2015 at 3,500 feet in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina this is very late for Monarchs to be passing through - and they are hungry. I noticed a patch of thistle on the roadside with just a few blooms left, all other fall wildflowers were dead, this became a migrating Monarch Butterfly magnet! Enjoy, relax and contemplate the healing power of the Monarch of Butterflies.......
The outstanding soundtrack is credited to:
Ambiment - The Ambient by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Timber Rattlesnake - Yellow Phase - Business end! I never notice how much they match the autumn leaves on the ground, but soon they will all be sleeping for the winter! Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina.
