“The bower is a cone-shaped hut-like structure some 100 cm high and 160 cm in diameter, with an entrance usually propped up by two column-like sticks. A front “lawn” of some square meters area is cleaned of debris and laid out with moss. On this, and in the entrance of the bower, decorations such as colourful flowers or fruit, shining beetle elytra, dead leaves and other conspicuous objects are collected and artistically arranged. Males go to great lengths to ensure that their displays are in prime condition, replacing old items as needed, as well as trying to outdo their neighbours by finding more spectacular decorations, and arranging them appropriately…more on wikipedia”
Nature can, at times, be terrible and unforgiving but it is also the source of such intriguing, complex and beautiful mysteries like the Vogelkop bowerbird. As I was watching the attached video, lulled into peaceful contentedness by the reassuring narration of Sir David Attenborough, I kept thinking to myself, “how, little bird, did you come to be?”
This particular clip is from the BBC produced series ‘Life’ which I highly recommend watching in it’s entirety. See/watch/learn more about the Vogelkop bowerbird on the BBC’s Nature website and on wikipedia.
[ Life - The Vogelkop Bowerbird: Nature's Great Seducer - BBC One ]
posted by respondcreate on Aug. 02, 2011 in Videos | tags: bbc, beautiful, birds, david attenborough, documentary, hd, nature, sex, vogelkop bowerbird
Thought you folks would enjoy some gorgeous HD goodness from Planet Earth about jungle fungus. The main star of the show is the uber-spooky cordyceps which seems as if it was invented for an episode of X-Files. Other than that it’s Sir David Attenborough doing his thing alongside beautifully captured time-lapse footage. You can’t go wrong, really.
[ Cordyceps Fungi - BBC Planet Earth HD ]
posted by respondcreate on Jan. 26, 2011 in Videos | tags: alien, david attenborough, documentary, fungus, hd, insects, mushrooms, nature, planet earth, rain forests, time lapse, trippy
Those orchids are sexy, tricksy little minxes, I tell you.
Did you know that vanilla comes from orchids? Or that orchids are virtually immortal? It’s true (providing you take good care of them, of course). There are individual plants that are still alive today that were first brought to England in the 1800s. Whoa.
The above video is from the excellent BBC produced series ‘The Private Life of Plants’ hosted by none other than Sir David Attenborough.
[ Sexual Tricks of Orchid Plants ]
posted by respondcreate on Nov. 11, 2010 in Videos | tags: bbc, david attenborough, nature, orchids, plants, sex, trippy
My favorite moment from the excellent ‘Life of Mammals’ series presented by Sir David Attenborough. It shows how the San people of the Kalahari desert overtake their prey by out-running them down to complete exhaustion. The San are the last people on earth who still hunt this way. Enjoy.
You can read more about persistence hunting in the excellent ‘Born to Run’ by Christopher McDougall.
[ BBC: The Life of Mammals / Human Mammal, Human Hunter - David Attenborough ]
posted by respondcreate on Nov. 05, 2010 in Videos | tags: africa, bcc, david attenborough, hunt, life of mammals, nature
