I did some yard work today, using the nice weather to mow over the first load of leaves and doing some cleanup. There is not much going on birdwise, and the Evening Grosbeaks that are seemingly visiting everybody in Michigan are snubbing me. But I watched the super woodpecker docu from PBS tonight with one of my favorites.
As the smallest diving mammal hunting for this water shrew lasts only a few seconds, but their technique underwater is remarkable. Their eyesight is poor so they rely on foraging along the bottom to find movement with their long whiskers. To find stealthier prey they have the rare ability to smell underwater. By blowing tiny bubbles of air they can detect scent particles in the water.
Nature on PBS
(youtube/ pbs)
[Transcript: A voracious predator is closing in on Big Bend. Flying through the night, he has come from the South where he spent the winter waiting and preparing for his journey North.
For the next five months, he will bring a swift and silent death to countless creatures of the Big Bend night. He is an elf owl, the very smallest owl in the world. Barely five inches high and weighing less than a tennis ball, but for elf owls, size truly doesn't matter.]