Don't want to spend $14 to see the movie 'Prometheus' in 3-D?: Here's an alternative!

[bsteadman]

Would you like to observe strange, highly intelligent, non-human species, up close, in life-or-death situations?

Do you like 'violence', surprises, and unpredictable conclusions?

Do you like heart wrenching, romantic stories?

If you don't want to blow $14 (+/-) - depending on your theater location and how you buy your tickets - on seeing the 3-D version of the new movie, 'Prometheus', here's an alternative --

Check out the Red-Tailed Hawk family: 'Big Red' (mommy), 'Ezra' (daddy) and their three little kids who are just learning to fly from their nest high up in the light tower at an athletic field at Cornell University. -- and it is all completely free!

Little Miss 'Sassy Pants' (#3), the youngest of the three hawklets, has not flown out from the nest yet but she most likely will in the next day or so. This is all very exciting!

Will the baby birds get attacked by owls or other predators? Can they learn to hunt and feed themselves? Mommy and daddy are trying to help the best they can but nature is tough on youngsters, even on the Cornell University Campus.

We'll just have to wait and see if the entire family will all 'live happily ever after'!

Live cam:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2422

[bsteadman]

Miss 'Sassy Pants', Hawklet Kid #3, flew away from the nest for the first time this afternoon at about 5:40 pm ET.

According to all reports, she has been awarded the title of 'First in Fledge', by the Cornell University ornithologists, by far outperforming her two, slightly older brothers in making a SPECTACULAR departure from the nest.

I believe she is now resting in a tree not far away, and will probably spend the night there. Mommy and daddy hawk are concerned, of course, but I'm sure they are relieved that their little 'princess' survived her first flight! She's a smart and capable little kid, that's for sure!

[bsteadman]

Here's another member of the raptor species. It has a wingspan of about 7 feet, which makes it considerably larger than the Red Tailed Hawk.

Absolutely spectacular in flight! Watch the short video linked below and I think you will agree!

Video: Osprey -- the ultimate fisher

Published 3/5/2012 by 'arkive'

http://youtu.be/nA3LtXnNIto

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btw. Here is a video of the 'Osprey' Helicopter in action. I think it's a good name choice for the aircraft!

Video: Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey Demonstration

Uploaded 4/8/2010 by 'f39eagle2'

http://youtu.be/8SmKXEyho6k

[AMERICAN ADVOCATE]

Steady Man , I live in Florida where there are many osprey , and they are great hunters . When you drive to the Florida Keys , they perch on the bridge rails and do not even react when you shout at them . They build huge nests of sticks just as an eagle does . They are spectacular to watch when diving to catch a mullet
which has made the mistake of coming to the surface . You can travel the intracoastal waterway by boat and see them standing on one foot and holding the
mullet by the other and eating it .

[bsteadman]

When you drive to the Florida Keys , they perch on the bridge rails and do not even react when you shout at them.

MAK,

Interesting comment! I have never seen an osprey and I don't know much about them yet.

My wife is the family 'ornithologist' but I am enthusiastically trying to catch up my knowledge base, at least on the raptor species. I certainly 'like' robins, yellow bellied sapsuckers and the like, but I can't get excited about them. However, I think raptors ARE EXCITING, and also admirable, beautiful, highly-intelligent, fearsome and totally magnificent creatures.

One thing that my wife told me, and which you confirmed in your comment, is that ospreys are very tolerant of non-threatening human behavior.

I love and admire the osprey's outgoing, honest, open personality. The species is friendly, free, self-reliant, strongly-family-oriented, and well-armed. Deficient members of the human species, take note! Perhaps there is something you can learn here!

The following quote provides additional background information on this unusual human/osprey interaction - http://www.ospreyworld.com/basics.html

" ... ospreys aren’t subtle birds and are fairly easy to identify and watch. They are big, loud, strikingly marked, gregarious, and not shy around human beings. ... Common sense should guide any osprey watcher. For you watching the birds is a luxury while they are involved in the serious business of raising their young. The good news is ospreys will let you know when you get too close. They are not strong silent types. They are gregarious—if you are bugging them they’ll let you know. But they also let you know about anything else they are feeling. They aren’t shy. For human beings, especially birdwatching human beings, they are a delight, since they don’t seem to mind us being voyeurs. They do everything in the open—including building their nests, learning to fly, feeding their young, and breeding."

[bsteadman]

FYI

'iBird PRO' Software is a great tool for serious bird watchers

My wife has 'iBird PRO' installed as an 'App' on her Apple iPhone 4 and has found it to be extremely powerful and useful in identifying and learning about all varieties of birds. Being compact and mobile, the iBird-PRO-equipped phone is especially handy for use in the field.

The software was easy to install. She just searched the 'App' library on her iPhone for 'iBird PRO' and then downloaded it directly.

Description of iBird PRO software:

http://ibird.com/products/android/ibird-pro/

[bsteadman]

PHOTO: Up close and personal with 'Miss Sassy Pants'

Hawklet #3 taking her 'beauty nap' - 6/19/2012

http://www.flickr.com/photos/clmenefee/7402845234/

[bsteadman]

At the start of this thread I implied that you might be viewing potentially lethal attacks on people by highly-intelligent, non-human species!!

-- OK, I admit that was a 'bait and switch' tactic just to get your attention.

However, let me try to make amends by offering the following, short, 'raptor' video for the entertainment pleasure of you violence-lovers out there:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environmen...dlife-producer

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btw - I thought the movie, 'Prometheus' was technically 'fantastic' and artistically 'good' although inexplicably flawed in at least one specific area!

Major Artistic Flaw: IMO, most of the Prometheus spaceship crew members, except for Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace), Meridith Vickers (Charlize Theron) and David (Michael Fassbender) seemed unbelievably inept and ill-suited for the task. I am not talking about the acting here, but simply the movie characters the actors were portraying, as they were written into the story. Except for the three exceptions noted above, it took a real stretch of my imagination to believe such a strange crew would actually be employed to undertake such an important and expensive mission!

That being said, I still think the movie was definitely well worth seeing, especially in 3D.

I did prefer the classic, 1979 'sort-of-sequel', 'Alien', also directed by Ridley Scott. The events in 'Prometheus' take place in the time period of about 2089 - 2093. Those in 'Alien' take place in about 2122.

The videos linked below will perhaps bring back memories of 'Alien' and give you a glimpse of 'Prometheus'

Video: Alien Trailer (1979)

http://youtu.be/bEVY_lonKf4

Video: Prometheus - Official Full HD Trailer - Ridley Scott, Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace

http://youtu.be/HHcHYisZFLU