วีดีโอ

about 20m or more from the nest? Initially I was near a stairway beside the path; later i moved to a road divider; a raised embarkment about 2m wide so as to capture the sounds of traffic from both directions (but have to be extra careful with the traffic). Stopped filming at 5pm to avoid the evening traffic.

The Phenom has risen

God even makes the lightning and the thunder too yk

​@@GoldenRing2023 right

Hi, the settings were all manual....I have to check on the raw video footage though as I can't recall the settings. IMO the two key factors are: the video settings (120fps 1080p) which allows me to see the movements of the lightning, and the Nikon Z 20mm f/1.8 S. The lens is superb for astro-photos, hence it works well for thunderstorms on dark days, and I could keep the ISO low. I am not really an expert in videoing thunderstorms, but I think the Z6II and the z 20mm lens just happens to be a good combi for such videos. Hope this helps!

month

Thanks! Could have been better if I had not been lazy and had my tripod with me

Yes, very nice invasive species. I nearly mistaken it as another native tree snake actually.

Actually the parent birds did try to do something (second half of video), flying swiftly and trying to peck at the snake (which is also very risky) but failed. But whether the parents could have prevented the snake from going into the nest prior to the swallowing, that I am not sure cos I was distracted by other animal during that crucial 1min

Don't worry. This is how nature works. Sometimes the birds lose (in this case). I am sure there are plenty of cases out there where the parent birds would have successfully chased the predator snake away by swiping or pecking on them. The only interesting thing is, this snake is not a native, so from an ecological perspective, perhaps the birds are not familiar with how to handle this snake that they have never met or have rarely met in their lifetime

I guess constrictors have evolved this technique to kill their prey asap (by restricting blood from reaching the brain, ensuring rapid organ failure). Any longer and the snake risks exposing itself to more harm (pecking by parent birds or even birds that prey on snakes)

I was there to document the bird actually, and it's vocals. But the snake's presence caught me completely by surprise. Surely it looks sad but yup, this is nature. What is probably interesting is, how did the snake even knew where the nest was? Did the presence of the parents, by their vocalizations, or smell of the nestling, gave their hideout away? The nest is very hard to spot, diameter is probably an inch and a half.

If u count the number of spikes on the spectrogram, it's about 24 hits in 1s!

@@matlim that is insane how to calculate? any software?

@@hariseyecreations1214 just use a sound spectrogram or waveform. Each peck gives a distinctive spike, and the time axis is horizontal, so it is not difficult to estimate the rate of pecking (but u need a good microphone to capture the sounds made, and not rely on the camera's buildin mic)

@@matlim fantatsic ... thanks much for the info

Filmed in Singapore. Some of the lightning occured here, but some (IE those in the far distance) were in Malaysia (Johor)

@@matlim Ok