On sunny days in spring female water snakes occupy a favored site, such as a log or stump, just above the water's surface. The larger female often attracts several smaller males. The successful male and female entwine in their copulatory "hug" for 30 minutes or more. The young are born in late summer.
Tags: snake mating copulation water Nerodia
In little more than a decade, near the end of his life, Thoreau transformed his passing interest with nature into a passion and practice that became the focus of his daily activities. Walk with Thoreau on an early Spring morning as he delights in the arrival of redwings - calling the river to life and tempting the ice to melt. Follow him into a meadow where the air is liquid with the bluebirds warble. Paddle up the Assabet to search out painted turtles and the earliest blossoms of the silver ...
Tags: Thoreau nature Walden journals Concord fall winter phenology online video
In little more than a decade, near the end of his life, Thoreau transformed his passing interest with nature into a passion and practice that became the focus of his daily activities. Walk with Thoreau on an early Spring morning as he delights in the arrival of redwings - calling the river to life and tempting the ice to melt. Follow him into a meadow where the air is liquid with the bluebirds warble. Paddle up the Assabet to search out painted turtles and the earliest blossoms of the silver ...
Tags: Thoreau nature Walden journals Concord spring summer seasons phenology online video
While Cape May is an extraordinary place at anytime of year, the fall migration of birds and insects is an annual highlight. Peregrines and merlins flashing by the lighthouse, dragonflies by the thousands streaming through the dunes, and a flood tide of monarchs inundating the Point. Cape May Point the segment of the DVD seen here offers a sampling of the annual southbound wave. Marvel at a flight of falcons, discover monarch roosts in the late afternoon light, and delight in the damselflies ...
Tags: migration Cape May birds butterflies monarch autumn fall nature online video
See three typical groups of birds found in the new world tropics:trogons, puffbirds, and flycatchers. Also here is the ocellated turkey, a fancy relative of our wild turkey.
Tags: tropics rainforest Central America trogons puffbirds flycatchers ocellated turkey
Planet Earth is in fact a planet of insects. And many reputable biologists are convinced that the ants are really in charge. See Army Ants and Leaf-cutting Ants here. Close relatives of the insects, tropical tarantulas have bad press but seldom pose a threat to humans. The variety of butterflies in the tropics seems unending and like all life on earth most species live in the tropics.
Tags: tropics rainforest Central America army ants leaf-cutting tarantulas spiders butterflies beetles nature online video
Tanagers are a diverse and colorful group of birds living mostly in the tropics. Manakins are small tropical birds with big dance repertoires. In fact one manakin may have inspired Michael Jackson's "moon walk." Also here are a pair of Red-lored Parrots and the Black Guan
Tags: tropics birds manakin tanager parrot guan rainforest Cenral America
Neotropical rainforests are among the richest natural areas on earth. Biodiversity reaches its peak in these wonderous and fascinating places. And for the traveler from North America access to an ever-increasing variety of comfortable eco-lodges has never been easier.
Tags: tropics Central America rainforest nature Belize Costa Rica Trinidad Panama jungle
