Narrated documentary on the secret nocturnal life of a feral cat. Relying on ancient instinct and its wits a wild feral cat survives off the land among the wild creatures of the night. The story of the first feral cat is at:
Red Shouldered Hawk calls at sunrise from atop the security light. It's mating season in Florida and if you listen closely you will hear another Hawk responding to the calls. You'll hear a number of other interesting birds calling at sunrise as well. It is rare that they sit still long while I'm filming them. A full time resident of the woods behind the backyard they are frequent backyard visitors and while they often catch snakes they also snatch the occasional squirrel and Mourning Dove from the feeders. The sound of the Red Shouldered Hawk will send the squirrels running for cover. Occasionally Blue Jays perform a pretty good imitation of the Hawk and seem to enjoy scaring the squirrels. The balance of Nature!
Eastern Screech Owl regurgitates a pellet up close. Owls remove undigested material by forming pellets and regurgitating them generally while sitting on their daytime roosts. In this case the pellet is not well formed and since we can see right into the through of Mr. Owl it looks like mostly hard insect parts of Palmetto Bugs and the like. Pellets are generally more well formed when they contain undigested hair and grass mixed in. They do this several times a day. By the expression on the owls face it is not altogether a pleasant process. Another facet of amazing owls!
Honey Bee's love the blossom clusters of the invasive Brazilian Pepper Tree in Florida. I'm not a bee expert, but these appear to be invasive Africanized Bees or the so-called "killer bees" or some kind of hybrid. It's not easy to tell. I suspect these are indeed wild bees and not from anybodies hive. Besides being invasive in Florida, the Brazilian Pepper tree is mildly toxic like poison ivy so I'm not sure what the effect of mixing it in with the honey would be, if it made up most of the honey it might give sensitive people an allergic reaction. Another case of one invasive species providing an advantage to another invasive species.
Eastern Screech Owl Nest Box and Perch Placement.
The eastern Screech Owls continue their courtship around the nest box on January 22nd, this is about a month earlier than the last few years when eggs were lain around March 1st, but it has been a very mild winter and food is plentiful.
The male Screech Owl has claimed the box and now spends his nights guarding the box and hunting for food – in part to convince the female that he is a good provider. Once eggs are lain she will have to incubate them all day and most of the night and once they hatch she will be in the box 24 hours a day except for short forays out after dusk and before dawn and must depend on the male to bring food while she protects the owlets. Last year the nesting failed and three eggs were abandoned after the male stopped bringing food for some reason.
Due to habitat loss there is a serious shortage of natural tree cavities and a lot of competition and danger associated with the available natural cavities. I can not put owl nest boxes on any trees as the squirrels and snakes will take them over. With regard to owl nest box placement, I have found that the Eastern Screech Owls are not too picky as long as they feel the box is safe from other creatures and they don't have to travel too far in the open to reach it. I put the nest box under the gable end of an aluminum sided outbuilding and the entrance is about 9 feet off the ground – this should make the box safe from anything but another bird such as a Kestrel. Snakes and squirrels need not apply! You have to make sure there are no close branches that the squirrels and such can reach the building from. The owls can drop down to the camera's left to a nearby six foot wood fence behind the building and head out into the brush or go first to the Perch.
Placing a perch in front of the nest box makes a big difference in attracting the Screech Owls to nest boxes in the backyard. This perch is about 12 feet in front of the nest box and six feet off the ground. It is used as a staging area by the owls and a hunting perch. It makes the nest box much more secure and attractive to them. It is also important not to use pesticides in the backyard as that is their hunting ground and lizards, small snakes, frogs and large bugs are a big part of their diet. Links to more information is in the info section of this video.
Unusually large Linear Hole Punch Clouds, Skypunch Clouds or Fallstreak Holes occurred over central Florida on January 22nd, 2015. Many of these rare cloud phenomena where observed, but this one was the most spectacular - it could not be fit in one picture - only video could capture its size. Winter is the time of year when these type of clouds are most often observed in Florida.
Brown Anole Lizard molting (moulting) its skin by sitting and drying in the hot Florida winter sun and rubbing itself on wood to loosen the skin and then eating it which provides calcium and other nutrients. The whole process took about an hour - these are just the highlights. Oddly the lizard loses its grip and falls to the ground trying to eat the last bits of skin. Makes you want to reach for the skin lotion.
Female Belted Kingfisher on a nice perch waiting patiently for a meal or perhaps just chilling out. I spent some time with this lovely little bird and maybe it was already full and just relaxing and watching me as it didn't seem too ambitious.
Glossy Ibis feeding voraciously in coastal marshland in Florida with a solitary White Ibis and a Heron mixed in. While they look black from a distance these large wading birds with the unique long, down-curved bill actually have a beautiful iridescence about them which gives them their "glossy" of shades of green, purple and brown - much like the Grackle. Glossy Ibis in North America live primarily along the Atlantic Coast, they can also can be found in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia.
Six Great Blue Herons. The largest of the North American herons with long legs, a sinuous neck, and thick, dagger-like bill. Head, chest, and wing plumes give a shaggy appearance. While relatively common in Florida they are always a majestic sight in flight and their ability to stoically stand on perches always fascinates. These six herons were filmed at Cape Canaveral National Seashore, Florida.
