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Steven Siegel of Raven on the Mountain is our lead videographer.  He publishes a new, outstanding video each month.  His current video is featured below.   Select Raven on the Mountain on the left to see the previous programs.

Monet's Swans from Raven On The Mountain Video on Vimeo.

Monet’s Swans from Raven On The Mountain Video on Vimeo.

 

Birds Gone Wild – Northern Mockingbird

Birds exhibit an amazing array of interesting behaviors.  Here is one of our favorites from Maslowski Productions.

Northern Mockingbird reflects on his life

This Northern Mockingbird is confused. He sees his reflection in the rear-view mirror and believes he is seeing another mockingbird moving into his territory.

Normally mockingbirds use their songs to help settle boundary disputes, but the guy in the mirror refuses to recognize the time-honored tradition.

 

 

Raven On The Mountain  – Resplendant Quetzal

This is one of our favorite videos from Steven.  Select from birds on the left to enjoy more of Steven’s work.

How about a virtual birding trip to Costa Rica?

 

Quetzals are rather quiet birds. They have to be, as they are a major menu item for the Ornate Hawk Eagle, one of which you can hear briefly in this piece. It is hard to do this bird justice, as video imaging just does not capture the filigree feathers and various shades of green, blue, orange and red. You will have to go find one to see for yourself. Quetzals have extremely thin skin, and only a taxidermist experienced in trogons can prepare a good specimen. That’s why there aren’t many in the major museums.

 

Cooper’s Hawk – Master of the Woods

Steven Siegel has captured some beautiful footage of a pair of nesting Cooper’s Hawks and their young family.

Cooper’s Hawk. Master Of The Woods. from Raven On The Mountain Video on Vimeo.

 

Monet’s Ducks-Northern Pintail

This brief film continues the “Monet” series featuring “painting” techniques to increase the sharpness and saturation of old video. This footage was shot in 2009. The technique is applied quite heavily, and some frames have been rotoscoped. Note the fulvous-colored band on the wing of the male pintail, a feature often overlooked in the field, but evident in slow-motion.

Monet’s Ducks Northern Pintail from Raven On The Mountain Video on Vimeo.

 

American Flamingo

Until about 1900, flocks of flamingos from the Bahamas regularly migrated to Florida Bay, in what is now Everglades National Park.   The flamingos then stopped coming for many years and any sightings in the U.S. were considered escapees from zoos or private collections.   In recent years, however, the American Flamingo has again started showing up in isolated locations in the Florida Everglades.

Steven Siegal was recently able to video the American Flamingo in Florida in 4K, slow motion video.

Greater Flamingo 4K and Slow Motion (with music from Raven On The Mountain Video on Vimeo.

 

Raven on the Mountain: Blue and Gold Macaws

Southern Florida has become home to several free-flying exotic bird species.  None are more spectacular than these Blue and Gold Macaws residing in suburban Miami.

Blue and gold macaw from Raven On The Mountain Video on Vimeo.

 

Birds of the Carolinas

As usual, some outstanding video from Steven Sigel.

 

Carolina Forest Jewels from Raven On The Mountain Video on Vimeo.

 

Hummingbird Monet

Steven Siegel continues his creative video work.  This month he works with hummingbirds.

 

Monet’s Hummingbirds from Raven On The Mountain Video on Vimeo.

 

Raven on the Mountain: Slow Motion Shorebirds

This months video is a study in the slow motion flight of Dunlin and beach activity of the Sanderling.

The movie is in gray scale to bring the focus to the the way the birds fly and their behavior.

 

Slow Shorebirds from Raven On The Mountain Video on Vimeo.

 

Raven on the Mountain – Snail Kite

The Snail Kite is found throughout tropical America, but in the United States, it is restricted to the southern half of Florida. Indeed, it used to be called the Everglades Kite. This video features an adult male (smooth gray), an adult female (more mottled), and a juvenile bird (streaked brown).

These birds are relatively rare, and always have been, with a population low in the 1960s of a few dozen birds. Today they number over 1000. The invasion of a large, difficult to handle, exotic snail replacing the native Apple Snail is their latest threat, although the birds can eat both kinds.

Snail Kite from Raven On The Mountain Video on Vimeo.

 

Raven on the Mountain: Tundra Swans

Although there are a number of places in the US and Canada where Tundra Swans spend the winter, most of them are home to, at most, a few hundred birds. The Pocosin National Wildlife Refuge, and nearby Lake Mattamuskeet, in North Carolina had well over 25,000 birds this winter. We were fortunate enough to see almost all of them come in to roost for the night over about a 2 hour period. The sight and sound were truly spectacular. This trip showed that the little Panasonic VX870 camcorder is good enough for wildlife shooting.

Enjoy the video and the enhanting slow-motion flight scenes.

 

From Raven On the Mountain Video

 

Raven On the Mountain – Video from the 2015 Space Coast Birding Festival

Shooting video in the early morning lets you play with several kinds of light over a short period. The warm flush that turns white birds pink. The irresistible backlit glow that passes through feathers and skin. The sparkle that happens to water at this time of day and near sunset. The weeds at the water’s edge prevented low angle shots of the (very close) avocets, but several different light effects were offered as the pelicans swam toward the sun.

Breakfast from Raven On The Mountain Video on Vimeo.

 

These techniques and more are in “You Can’t Direct The Talent” from Raven On The Mountain Video ravenonthemountain.com or [email protected]

 

Raven On The Mountain  – Resplendant Quetzal

This is one of our favorite videos from Steven.  Select from birds on the left to enjoy more of Steven’s work.

How about a virtual birding trip to Costa Rica?

 

Quetzals are rather quiet birds. They have to be, as they are a major menu item for the Ornate Hawk Eagle, one of which you can hear briefly in this piece. It is hard to do this bird justice, as video imaging just does not capture the filigree feathers and various shades of green, blue, orange and red. You will have to go find one to see for yourself. Quetzals have extremely thin skin, and only a taxidermist experienced in trogons can prepare a good specimen. That’s why there aren’t many in the major museums.

 

Raven on the Mountain – Sharp-tailed Grouse

The Sharp-tailed Grouse, displaying on the breeding grounds called a “lek.”

 

 

Through the Eye of a Brown Pelican

Steven Siegel is still working on his creative side.   Here is his latest effort.

 

Through The Eye Of A Brown Pelican from Raven On The Mountain Video on Vimeo.

 

Raven on the Mountain – Dancing Grebes

Enjoy this video of dancing Western and Clark’s Grebes with several other species.

 

Birdzilla on YouTube

Both Mark and Sam Crowe regularly contribute videos to the Birdzilla.com YouTube channel.  Over 50 species are currently featured.

We are also thankful to Maslowski Wildlife Productions.  You will find many of their video files in the Nifty Fifty State bird guides.

Become a Featured Videographer

If you would like to be featured in this section just drop us a note with a link to your website, Vimeo or YouTube Channel.  We’ll feature a new videographer on the home page and on this page.

Our preference is for movies that are more than just a simple video of one or more bird species, although high quality video illustrating behavior is also very welcome.

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