A Great Blue Heron caught a good sized fish, a Gar. The only trouble is that Gars have teeth like alligators, and herons usually swallow their catch head first. Uh oh. Then a juvenile Bald Eagle decided he would take the fish. Okay, says the heron. Who’s gonna argue with a bird that’s got 400 pounds of pressure per square inch in his talons?
You can see all my movies on my YouTube channel: Jo Alwood
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birders
House Wrens and Carolina Wrens
Diminutive House Wrens and Carolina Wrens consider themselves barons of the brush pile. They rule with effervescent song. (But the House Wren has a dark side that the Carolina Wren does not.)
You can see all my movies on my YouTube channel: Jo Alwood. Click “Subscribe to be notified of new movies.
Great Blue Herons Fluffing Their Plumage
Care to see Michael Jackson dancing …. in feathers? It’ll only take 30 seconds.
You can see all my movies on my YouTube channel: Jo Alwood.
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A Great Horned Owlet’s First Week out of the Nest
The owlet’s first week is about baby steps, baby jumps … and bike riding.
You can see all my movies on my YouTube channel: Jo Alwood. Click “Subscribe” to be notified of new movies.
A Killdeer’s Broken Wing Act
Is it unethical for a videographer to peer at Mama Killdeer’s eggs in order to film the female doing her broken wing act? If so, I’m guilty. But she did perform with élan.
Killdeers are shorebirds … who don’t need a shore. If you don’t believe me, visit any high school football field or golf course, where you’ll likely find a nesting pair of Killdeer. They’ll help you find them by screaming “killdeer” as they fly off in alarm. In fact their Latin name testifies to their noisy habits: Charadrius Vociferus.
They produce “precocial” babies–babies that are already fluffy, ready to run, and able to feed themselves. What’s more, those babies are all born at the same time, no matter how many days apart the eggs were laid. That’s because the first egg laid does not begin to develop until the mother Killdeer begins incubating the eggs. She doesn’t do that until the last egg has been laid.
You can see all my movies on my YouTube channel: Jo Alwood. While you’re there, click “Subscribe” to be notified of new movies.
The Frenetic Wilson’s Phalarope
It’s shorebird migration time in Missouri, and on May 3rd, I filmed four female Wilson’s Phalaropes, close up, whipping and whirling as they fed at a mud flat. They’ll make you smile.
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A Great Horned Owl Fledges
This movie about the owlet’s shaky introduction to life outside the nest is part one. I won’t know how many more parts there’ll be until the owlet is independent. I should say “owlets” actually. I’m almost certain there’s a second owlet still in the nest.
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Robins as Pedestrians
It’s a wonder suburban thoroughfares aren’t littered with the corpses of Robins, as much as they play in the street. But they successfully avoid the oncoming cars. What I want to know is WHY they choose so often to be pedestrians. Sure, they fly across streets some of the time, but they’re just as likely to run.
You can see all my movies on my YouTube channel: Jo Alwood. Click “subscribe” to be informed of new films.
Great Horned Owlet scrutinizes a human
I was as much an object of scrutiny as this owlet and its parent were.
The local Great Horned Owls have nested in the same Sycamore for eight years now, and they tried again in February. That nesting failed. On March 9th, I found the egg on the ground, opened it and saw the fetus. Now, on April 20th, I filmed their baby in a pine tree a block from the old nesting site. I’m no expert on owlets and can’t judge this one’s age. All I know for sure is that I’m going to keep an eye and a camera on that nesting site so I can film him when he’s ready to fledge. Maybe by then, he’ll be used to seeing me around, hmm?
I filmed last year’s Great Horned Owlet (as well as a Screech Owl). Two months ago, I posted a movie showing our Great Horned Owls copulating.
You can see all my movies on my YouTube channel: Jo Alwood
Not so puzzling
What could this Robin be up to, hmm?
You can see all my movies on my YouTube channel: Jo Alwood