The Ark In Space

Spider Mom

Sunday, 21 March 2021

This is one of the most remarkable pieces of film I have seen for a long time. Sure, we are all used to macro photography these days, showing all aspects of insect and arachnid life close up. Yet while that sort of photography needs time and bags of patience this must have been a labor of love indeed.

Funnily enough labor is quite an appropriate word here. This remarkable piece of film shows a spider laying its eggs. Scientifically speaking I should have said a spider ovispositing its egg sac but now you have that you know what it means in everyday speak!

The detail here is stunning – quite remarkable – you can see the eggs inside the spider before their sack is oviposited. Not only that it shows the care that the spider gives its young before they are born and even takes us to the birth itself.

This outstanding footage was taken by Alvaro Mendoza Productions, otherwise known as Amprods, a Spanish production company specializing in nature documentaries and, more specifically, in filming animal behavior.

The Rise of the Common Crane Migration

Sunday, 22 January 2017

During the 18th and 19th century the Common Crane almost disappeared from Western Europe. We drained their wetland habitats and hunted them. But right now over 300.000 Common Cranes migrate each year from their breading habitats in Scandinavia to Southern Spain. The numbers rise each year too – but as you will discover from this wonderful short by Tim Visser Creations, although we helped to restore the number of cranes to their former heights, it was purely accidental conservation.

In Between: The World of the Musk Ox

Sunday, 20 December 2015

In between refers to the fact that although most consider the Ice Age over, it is really still dying out – not quite disappeared for good. Yet many of the animals we associate with it, the saber-toothed cats and the woolly mammoth have long since gone the way of the dinosaur. One creature still persists in the Arctic – the Musk Ox. This beautiful short, photographed by Rolf Steinmann, shows a world unknown to most of us.

Brown Wood Owl: The Juvenile’s Journey

Sunday, 28 September 2014

The Brown Wood Owl has a special place in Sri Lankan folklore, known as the devil bird. So when filmmaker Thivanka Perera came across a pair in the crevice of a tree trunk he decided to monitor their progress. The resulting short film tells the story of survival against all the odds and while the ending is not a completely one, this reflects the way that nature operates. This film officially selected for the 2014 Wildlife Conservation Film Festival in New York.

Nightmare Alien

Monday, 20 May 2013

Have you ever wanted to look away but simply couldn’t? I think that’s how I felt (still not sure) watching this footage taken by Friedhelm Fischer. It’s a macro time-lapse of a simple land snail yet as it is so close up it does somewhat resemble the nightmare alien of the title.

What was most fascinating for me was watching the tentacles curl out and retract. The upper set are called ommatophores (just call them eye stalks, it’s easier). The lower set help the snail smell itself along to its next meal. Absolutely fascinating footage!

A Bird Ballet

Saturday, 2 February 2013

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.

Sailfish Drama

Tuesday, 6 July 2010

Sailfish inhabit the warmer sections of every single ocean on our planet. Blue to grey in color they get their name from the erectile dorsal fin which is known as a sail – this often stretches all the way down their back and gives these fish their incredibly cool but cruel air. You will probably notice too their elongated bill which is reminiscent of a swordfish. In fishing circles they are known as billfish for that reason.

This amazing Sailfish Drama was caught on film at Isla Mujeres, Mexico in February 2010. The footage was captured with a RED One camera, using a Tokina 10-17mm lens, in a Deep RED Gates housing. There is some great musical accompaniment by Alan Williams to give the footage that extra thrill. This is really superb film making.

A Clockwork Corn

Sunday, 11 April 2010

Squirrels + Corn = Video Opportunity. Watch this marvellous time lapse video of a bunch of squirrels (can't just be the same one, surely?) attacking their favorite food of the winter - good and healthy corn straight off the cob! And boy, do they tuck in!

The time lapse technique is used wonderfully here and it is fun watching the cob spin around as the squirrels devour it (hence the brilliant name for the piece I guess!). One to watch again and again!

This video was made by Vimeo member Mark Svoboda and was shot in an approximately two hour period. As it is produced by Backyard Boredom Pictures, we are assuming that it was shot in Mr Svoboda's back yard - but of course we could be wrong on that point. Wherever it was shot - thank you for a few minutes of great fun!

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