Cute and Curious - the eldest Eastern Screech Owlet this season was this male Gray Morph. He finds the world outside the box fascinating. Unlike last season we did not see a lot of fighting over who gets to sit in the nest box entrance. The 2nd egg did not hatch so there were 4 and 6 days difference in age between the eldest and the next two and he was way ahead in development - leaving the nest box 3 days before the youngest.
Video: Eastern Towhee Fledglings Learning to Scratch For Food
Eastern Towhee Fledgling
Towhee's are on of my favorite backyard birds they display a unique personality and sing their hearts out all day long. Two young Eastern Towhees recently fledged are learning to scratch for their food just like their parents. You can hear one of the parents calling continuously nearby - they have one of the more distinctive calls of eastern U.S. birds. The fledgling were still being fed by the parents at this time.
Video of their Dad making the classic "Drink your tea..." call.
Beautiful Golden Silk Orb Weaver Spider In Her Amazing Golden Web (Florida)
The Business Side of a Large Golden Silk Orb Weaver Spider in Florida. In part two I'll test the strength of this spider silk!
Much to my surprise a giant Golden Silk Orb Weaver Spider took up residence in our Florida backyard while we were on vacation. This 4 inch long amazing specimen is a female. The male, which I did not see, is a fraction of her size. I almost walked right into her as she perched about 5 feet off the ground in a web that was on the order of 8 feet by 4 feet, and characteristically from what I've read the web was tilted at an angle. Of course my first thought was get a video of her. As she was so docile and unconcerned by my presences that was not a problem. In the video the giant spider proceeds to do what can only be described as grooming, stretching and scratching. I guess even huge spiders get an itch now and then. She is basically just chillin' out in her amazing golden web - a spider this big has a personality!
Just as in the case of beneficial snakes these big spiders should not be killed, despite their intimidating manner they are not poisonous. I grabbed a dead tree branch and started to roll up the web kind of like cotton candy and surprisingly the big spider gathered within the web on the branch and made no attempt to run - they are not built for "running" by the way and do not like to be on solid ground where they move very slowly compared to say a wolf spider or black widow.
In the second photo above of the underside you can see the spider hanging on a large "rope" of her golden web. She stayed absolutely still and made no attempt to flee, but gave an awesome display of bio-luminescence in red, green and yellow as her only defense as "running" would be useless. After getting to know it a bit and having fleeting thoughts of keeping it as a pet - I let her go in the heavy brush behind the house where she will rebuild a golden web away from people and continue to consume large insects. Four inches long, pretty colors, bio-luminescent displays of red, yellow and green, a head that looks just like a human skull, and soft beautiful golden silk that is some of the strongest biological material on the planet - what's not to like. I kept a piece of the silk web "rope" as it was very much just like thread and in part two of this blog I give the golden silk a strength test!
Video: Red Squirrel Smashes Finger Gets Really Upset!
Red Squirrel Smashes Paw on Nut Box and Throws a fit - What would you do?
Poor little Red Squirrel - he smashes his right front paw trying to open the squirrel nut box and then throws a futile fit at the box, shouts some bad squirrel words and licks his wounds. I have seen many people do similar working on a frustrating DIY task. I felt bad for the little guy - he is fine - he's just too small to lift the lid on a box meant for bigger squirrels so I removed the front cover for him and he got his nuts. A happy ending.
Transformer Screech Owl 2013 is patiently guarding her nest box with three owlets when a pesky and curious squirrel decides to check her out. She puffs herself up and extends her wings to look big and scary as the squirrel is right on top of her. Mrs. Owl holds her patience for quite awhile and then sends the squirrel on his way with a somewhat disgusted look. This is the same mother Transformer Screech Owl that has displayed her prodigious talent in the past by shrinking to look like a tree branch from a Red-Shouldered Hawk on the exact same spot in 2012. The only real wild transformer owl on the web!
The companion YouTube site to this blog: Backyard Birding ....and Beyond ! has been updated with a new look and a new channel description -
The home of wild Eastern Screech Owls...this is Backyard Birding ....and Beyond! We love to share original HD videos of birds and Nature in general observed in our backyard and in our travels. Our goal is to capture the unique moments when creatures interact naturally or reveal something unusual. There is much going on in the backyard ecosystem and you'll find it covered here. Sometimes funny and cute, beautiful, or surprising and shocking, but always real, wild, and original. New HD videos are uploaded each week and Screech Owls are live each spring. Also free bird-call ringtones! If you find the channel entertaining please subscribe, comment and share to help support our work. A companion blog to Backyard Birding ...and Beyond is at: http://screech-owls.blogspot.com . Adventure is as near as your Backyard. Thanks so much for visiting!
"Any glimpse into the life of an animal quickens our own and makes it so much the larger and better in every way." John Muir
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The new YouTube format is easier to program and easier to navigate. Any comments are appreciated. Next up a channel trailer!
Two Eastern Screech Owlets in our nest box. A female Red-Morph on the left and her younger brother who really wants to see the world - on the right. A third owlet is in the nest box. These are the talented offspring of their amazing mother, the only wild and natural Transformer Owl on the web at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFJe6SMEHFA and the star of many other videos on this channel. More HD videos every week. Please Subscribe at: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=MyBackyardBirding
This great photo of an Eastern Screech Owl in the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia was a Merit Winner in the Outdoor Scenes category of the National Geographic Traveler 2013 photo contest. It looks like its part of the tree. In our area there are very few such big trees in which to hide. This Gray Eastern Screech Owl looks a lot like the mascot from our backyard used as my blog's signature background image.
