See a Baby Hummingbird's Heartbeat

Video: See a Baby Hummingbirds Beating Heart!

Ruby Throated Hummingbird mother feeding baby allows us to see its beating heart.

You can not count as fast as this precious little Ruby-Throated Hummingbird fledgling's heart beats in 40 seconds of video. Watch the zoomed-in PIP of the birds heart area in full 1080 HD. Hummingbirds have the fastest heart rates of all birds. We rescued a prematurely fledged baby hummingbird that crashed and exhausted itself - more on that in later video blogs - but here it is re-united with its mother and in assuming the out of the nest feeding position so the mother can get food into its beak, the bird allows us to see its tiny heart beating incredibly fast under its pink breast flesh. The hummingbirds has one of the biggest hearts in proportion to its body in the animal world, but it is still smaller than a green pea!
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Butterfly Bush Casts Its Magic Spell on Butterflies

Video: Butterflies can't resist the "Butterfly Bush"

Butterflies can't resist the "Butterfly Bush"

Tiger Swallowtails, Pipevine Swallowtails and a few other butterfly species find this "Butterfly Bush" irresistible. Perhaps due to all the rain, we have a bumper crop of blossoms and the late summer butterflies that feed on them! The Tiger Swallowtail in the photo above is the State Butterfly of North Carolina!

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Cute Elk Calf Having Breakfast in the Great Smoky Mountains

Video: Elk Calf Enjoying Breakfast

Cute Elk Calf Enjoying Breakfast in the Great Smoky Mountains

We were fortunate to spend some quality time with a mother Elk and her three calves one morning earlier this week. I focused on one of three Elk calves enjoying breakfast. Remote roadside forage next to heavy forest cover is one of their favorite hangouts. Sequestration and the closure of the prime Elk area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park has led to much less "people pressure" on the animal life, making for excellent viewing.

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Peak Hummingbird Season - Up Close and Loud

Video: Hummingbird In Evergreen

Hummingbird In Evergreen

Crank up the volume! Close up video and audio of a female Ruby Throated Hummingbird at an isolated feeder above evergreen trees. The sun was just right to bring out the iridescent green feathers. It is interesting to see how the hummingbirds interact with small insects at this scale. You will also hear some loud calls of nearby Cardinals.

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Butterfly Feeding Frenzy

Video: Butterfly Feeding Frenzy

Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly Feeding Frenzy

Relaxing! Only a solitary Milk Thistle blossom within a large area of many plants emerged a few days ago and it was quickly found by a large number of hungry Pipevine Swallowtail Butterflies and bees leading to a rare and beautiful feeding frenzy. All thistle is generally considered an invasive weed, but Milk Thistle is not unattractive due to its large colorful blossoms and is a choice food for butterflies. The extract of the dried seeds is purported to be good for the liver.

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Majestic Bull Elk and Family Great Smoky Mountains

Video: Majestic Bull Elk and Family

Bull Elk Great Smoky Mountains

Beautiful Bull Elk, mother and calf near a closed area of the remote part of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. "Sequestration", and few if any people has probably resulted in some unique viewing opportunities. Not sure if this is the full extent of his family. As big as he is he is still not the top dog in these parts! Filmed in a steady rain. 

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Guilty Squirrel - Caught on Camera!

Five Second Video: Guilty Red Squirrel - Caught in the act of stealing a nut!

Guilty Red Squirrel - Caught in the Act.

A little fun! This Red Squirrel dropped in from above and completed the nut robbery in 5 seconds -Ninja-style! In an effort to avoid the camera trap this little Red Squirrel tries to quickly grab just one nut at a time - but he clearly realizes he is busted!

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Amazing - Swallowtail Butterfly Dominates Hummingbirds At Nectar Feeder!

Amazing Video:  Swallowtail Butterfly Dominates Hummingbirds

Swallowtail Butterfly Rule The Hummingbird Feeder!

No Room For Hummingbirds  Here!

Aerial Battle For Nectar Feeder Dominance -  Won By The Butterfly!

I'm not sure this phenomena has been well-documented before, but it is amazing on at least two counts - one the butterfly is hovering by rapidly flapping its wings like a hummingbird to drink nectar from a feeder, and two - the butterfly is totally dominating the nectar feeder and chasing away the hummingbirds with deliberate acts of aggression. I observed this odd behavior and fortunately it continued for some time - allowing me to get my camera set up nearby on a tripod without disturbing the actions. This Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly pushes around both male and female Ruby-Throated Hummingbirds at a small nectar feeder. Very surprising since the hummers spend the day violently fighting each other for dominance of the feeder. I know they are the smallest birds in the world, but they should remember they are indeed birds and not let insects push them around. Perhaps the amazing cheekiness of this Swallowtail has thrown them for a loop - they don't know what to do - it wont even share the feeder with them! It is also possible the butterfly it is under the influence of the high octane artificial nectar and acting out of character!

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Screech Owlet Greetings From Montana

Eastern Screech Owlets in Montana Casey Page / The Billings Gazette

Cute Eastern Screech owlet  story out of  Billings, Montana. These five Eastern Screech Owlets are at the far western edge of their range!

Back Capped Or Hybrid Chickadee In Great Smoky Mountains

Video: Back Capped Or Hybrid Chickadee In Great Smoky Mountains

Back Capped Or Hybrid Chickadee In Great Smoky Mountains

This Chickadee is having a great time and there is a special guest appearance at the end you'll want to stick around for. Positively ID'ing this bird is a bit of  a challenge - I am not an expert birder by any means. Here is a great resource on Chickadee identification.  This bird is at 4000 feet elevation in the Great Smoky Mountains where the Black-Capped Chickadee is know to replace the Carolina Chickadee or to possibly coexist. This is a bit of a rough looking bird (in a nice way) with a large messy bib and is likely the Black-Capped Chickadee or perhaps a hybrid?

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