WILD TALES ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Pacific Northwest, USA
Roosevelt Elks, Salmons, Black bears, Sea lions… they sound a bit different than the wildlife in the Everglades, don’t they?…
Indeed I am bit off the tropics, but still in a very humid place, in the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest helping a good colleague in his wildlife film project about the Olympic National Park.
We had amazingly nice weather during last week and apparently more amazing luck with the North American River Otters.
On the very first day on location we came across one of these shy animals feeding on a large salmon.
God knows how he got that big fish which was almost twice the size of the otter…
Anyway his pals turned up too, there were four of them playing and swimming around us. They were very relaxed and surprisingly close to us (sometimes only 1 meter / 3 feet away!!) and they constantly kept returning to the salmon carcass.
We got some really nice footage!
They were still around the next day but then, when we got prepared some sophisticated shots with my new toy with the Polecam, well, they just didn’t turn up anymore.
Typical…
So at least I could practice a lot with the Polecam, but only imagining there is an otter swimming in front of the camera.
Still, it’s a nice creek, isn’t it?
Well, it’s always very hard to give up and move on so we still kept on waiting for two more days… but nothing. Nice, long hours on a slope overviewing the creek, part of wildlife filmmaking. But it seems they must have fed themselves fully and weren’t too interested anymore to act a bit more for a NatGeo wildlife show…
Can’t blame them.
More photos about this shoot in my public FB photo album.
Owly days
An owl that eats crayfish and even wades in water if needed?!
And here in the Everglades?!
Wow, I need to film this creature! Show me somebody who doesn’t like owls, especially the lovely chicks?
So I decided to give a little side role to this strange bird species in the story. Specially that they live in the same cypress dome that our main character, the alligator mother calls home as well.
Only that we had to find them…
Well, with Garl it was not difficult at all! It sounded that he and these owls really knew each other on a kind of personal level, only that I had to be introduced too. I truly hoped the feathery guys were going to like me too…
As we entered into the cypress dome and started to wade in the cool water a strange loud voice filled up the air. Sounded like monkeys in the jungle but in fact it’s the sound of the Barred owl. Hair-rasingly beautiful.
So, they are here!
And we found them on the same place where they always used to be according to Garl.
I like reliable animals (and men, though quite rare species in these days), makes the life of a natural history filmmaker so much easier.
Even, I could get to them so close that I felt I could almost touch them! What a cool shot when you see yourself in the eye of a wild animal!
Quite unusual, but these winged folks really seemed to know Garl pretty well and finally it also seemed they trusted not only him but his pal who carried that strange thing on his shoulder.
Osprey nest
Florida Bay. Muddy, hot, full of mangrove and funky critters and plenty of mosquitoes… Still, I like the place.
So, I check the low tide: it’s in the right time, nice afternoon lights. I need shallow water as I am going to stand in it for 4-5 hours and I prefer it to be knee-deep than up to my hip (thanks god, that it’s not Siberia this time…).
I leave from home in time, had only a coffee, I thought to stop somewhere on the road to pick up some food and of course one more cup of black.
Stop: a gas station. Grrr, forgot my wallet… quick check if I can make it back and forth with the remaining fuel, yes I can.
Well, then this will be a tough day out in the sea without food and water…
I need to use a kayak to reach the location as there is no other way. Not a long paddle but it’s a bit windy out there. I don’t mind it only that the salt water is not a big friend of the camera…
I am on the way to film Ospreys in the extensive mangrove habitat around the Keys.
A couple of days ago we scouted the area and found some nice nests and this is the first time that I try my luck with them.
I decided just standing in the water, no blind. If they don’t like me they won’t come to the nest after all.
But they did a couple of times while I was there, standing in the 2ft/60cm water for hours. I am not sure whether they’re going to be the right ones for the film, they seem to be a bit undecided about the nest, but tomorrow I will give it a try once again.
Well, with proper supplies…