Readers’ wildlife video

January 25, 2019 • 7:30 am

Reader Tara Tanaka (Vimeo site here, Flickr site here) has a beautiful new video taken at St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida. Although the park was closed due to The Wall Fiasco, Tara wouldn’t let a little thing like that prevent her filming.

Her notes:

All of this footage was shot in January 2019, except for the Flamingo which was shot two months earlier. The refuge is officially closed due to the government shutdown, but the wildlife appears not to notice and I was fortunate to have opportunities to capture unusually close footage of an Osprey and bobcat. All of this footage was digiscoped except for the last two clips.

Be sure to watch it on full screen with sound on, as there’s a musical accompaniment. Be sure to identify all the animals, and watch for the bird poop and bobcat piss!

35 thoughts on “Readers’ wildlife video”

  1. Hey RWP fans – off-topic, but I have to mention: pretty sure I saw a pileated woodpecker this morning! I’ll have to check. It was very exciting…

    2. It appeared to evaluate the sizeable gash it was making in the tree – looking at different angles with a notably articulated head/neck, and I … empathize?… I imagine this is exactly how I would do the same thing. The woodpecker was distinct from the more common downy woodpecker, and had a notably larger and more attractive (uh-oh – I’m getting into deep water here) red crest.

      1. Maybe it would also momentarily deter a puma sneaking up from behind? Don’t know if puma ever prey on bobcats, but I suppose they might.

        Or maybe it would provoke mobbing behavior in birds.. maybe it is the bobcat’s equivalent of calling for a pizza with free delivery.

  4. The music was a very good choice – illusion of the animals dancing was very good – so, what is the piece?

    also I noticed a pileated woodpecker!

    this is the start of a great day!

    1. I’m so glad you like the music. It’s called “Handel Concerto” and I licensed it from Audio Jungle. I was watching “The Four Seasons” – one of my favorite movies – while I was choosing the music for this video, and I think the music in the fall segment influenced my choice. I was having a hard time finding a piece that would suit the delicate Vermilion Flycatcher, the feeding Osprey, and the bobcat.

        1. I think he composed 12 ‘concerti grossi’. Let us say 2 handfuls. I could indeed not find this specific one, Composers like Händel, Bach and Scarlatti were kinda prolific.
          My daughter bought me the complete works of JS Bach a decade ago: 155 cd’s!
          And I once tried – but did not succeed- to trace a Harpsichord sonata by Scarlatti: over 500 of them!

        2. EpicMann’s “Handel’s Concerto” on audiojungle.net is definitely Handel, but it’s computerised with the dynamic range compressed upwards so all parts sound loud. That’s why you’re having trouble recognising it.

          I think it an Allegro section from Concerto Grosso op. 6
          Perhaps this:
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUDhxZKUvEg
          Or this:

          1. I apologize for diverting the discussion but playing in an abandoned building is too cool.

      2. Yes, Georg Friedrich Händel, is certainly one of the most accomplished composers of all times.
        This is part of his ‘concerti grossi’ but he wrote so much more, from ‘God Save the King’ to the ‘Halleluiah’ chorale. And I still discover that the music of some songs that I knew as a child were written by him.
        He was born a German (30 year war) who honed his skills in Italy and later became an Englishman, composing for the King (House of Hannover, IIRC).
        In fact he was very much plagiarised, although in those times that was not thought of as bad behaviour, more like a compliment.
        Note that eg. Mozart’s Kyrie Eleison (Lord, have mercy) from his Requiem, is obviously ‘inspired’ by Händel’s ‘And with His Stripes We Are Healed’.
        Again, one of those hauntingly beautiful pieces that rarely fail to move me to tears. .

  8. Your videos are always amazing Tara. I’ve never seen footage like that of an Osprey. That Vermilion Flycatcher was too cute.

  9. A complete marvel.
    It is a Strange Small Pleasure to know that you are going to see the projectile pooping of a bird on the internet. Is it going to be the flamingo? The magnificent bald eagle? The anticipation was simple fun!

    1. I do have projectile pooping of an eaglet from the nest, and I have very strange video of the Flamingo pooping, but it looks more like dog poop – probably from all the mud it’s filtering.

Comments are closed.