The Ark In Space

Snow Games

Monday, 18 February 2013

This will make you smile, I hope. There have been a few videos recently of various animals playing in the snow – and here is another one to add to the collection. This one, however, is a little different because the dog playing in the snow has been captured in slow motion. Barolo, who owns filmmaker Andrey Blanco, has been filmed at 240 frames per second. So, you get every jump, every leap and – you swear – a dog can smile!

Barolo is absolutely full of life – joie de vivre is in his every motion. What a pleasure is must be to accompany him through life!

You Don’t Frighten Me!

Sunday, 10 February 2013

Sometimes you have to whip your camera out in a second to get the photograph. When Flickr photographer Peretz Partensky was traveling the Silk Road in Tashkent, Uzbekistan he managed to capture this amazing shot. What we don’t see, however, is the way that the dog charged the cat and the way the ferocious feline stopped her in her tracks by hissing and thrusting a paw in the air. Yet this, taken a second or two afterwards captures the dramatic moment, in my mind, perfectly. This little cat is giving the dog her marching orders! You don’t frighten me!

The Birds of Troup Head

In June 2012 Cain Scrimgeour visited RSPB (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) Troup Head in Scotland, to produce a short promotional film for the RSPB. A week was spent filming on the high sea cliffs of the reserve, where he was privileged to be in the presence of the beautiful and prehistoric Northern Gannet, Morus bassanus. The close proximity allowed him to delve into the Gannets lives, witnessing the complexity of their behavioural traits.

Cain takes up the story: During the week the weather was by majority hot and sunny with flat seas, this proved to be challenging in terms of exposure whilst filming these large white birds, but it also meant that the majority of the Gannets kept to the cliff edges, never venturing above the cliff tops. Only two days did I experience wind which provided some interesting photograph and filming opportunities. The waves picked up, and began crashing into the base of the rocky cliffs, whilst the winds updrafts allowed the Gannets to gain height, congregating at the uppermost parts of the cliff face, gliding effortlessly above the horizon.

Red Crab Migration on Christmas Island: Roadkill Era Over

Saturday, 2 February 2013

If you have ever watched a documentary about the migration of red crabs on Christmas Island from the forest back to the sea to spawn, then you have probably seen enough crab carcasses to last you a lifetime.

As the crabs made their way back to the ocean they would inevitably have to cross one of the island’s roads. In the past motorists would try to swerve to avoid them (or not!) but often the crabs were simply too numerous and accidents inevitably happened.

However, it is hoped that these days the number of crabs being squished and squashed will be massively reduced, thanks to the efforts of the amazing staff of Parks Australia. They have created a number of ingenious methods to ensure that as many crabs get to the sand and the sea as possible. Take a look at this interesting video to find out more.

A Bird Ballet

Neels Castillon was filming a commercial near Marseille in France. While he and his colleagues were waiting for a helicopter to shoot they noticed something else was going on – something quite wonderful. It is known as a murmuration of starlings and it happens at dusk. Many thousands of starlings take to the skies at the same time and form a giant cloud. They wheel, turn, plummet and soar in an incredible natural spectacle that makes you wonder, quite honestly, how they do it without colliding in to each other!

You may well wonder why they do this. It seems that, as ever, there is safety in numbers and it is thought that this huge congregation of starlings all simultaneously on the move might help to confuse birds of prey.

Don’t be fooled by the huge numbers seen here, however. It has been estimated that starling numbers in the UK and France have plummeted by an incredible 70% in recent years. We may be the last generation to witness this spectacle.

The page cannot be found