birders

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Great Blue Heron gives up Gar to juvenile Bald Eagle.

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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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.

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