HOLY TOLEDO, BUCKAROO!!! IT'S THE RICKUBISCAM PAGE !!
         (sometimes known as the "rick, don't touch that!" page.)
   LAST UPDATE: 02/15/2012            PREVIOUS UPDATE: 01/29/2012
      -----                 --LET'S SEE WHAT THAT RASCAL RICKUBIS IS UP TO!  
 
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                                                DOES THE CAPTION  SAY "IT'S LIVE"?  IF IT DOESN'T, IT ISN'T.  

     Usually, the newest material on my pages appears here first. But sometimes, it doesn't.
     I'll try this--here is a list of pages that have been recently updated (except this one--you can see that here).  Visit them directly to see what else is new. I'm still updating my pages--I'm just not always
     putting the newest material on this page.

                         Page name                                   Last Update
         
                                   Buddha the Pup's Page                      02/03/2012  added links to three new video clips 
                          MANY OF THE PAGES!!              01/04/2012  converted all (or almost all) of my old Realvideo ".ram" short clips to ".flv" format. Many pages affected. Couple hundred links. 
                                   Welcome to Rickubis.com                 01/03/2012  added various links
                                   Alligator Behavior 4:Feeding 1       10/18/2011
                                   Alligator Conflict                            9/10/2011
                                   Ant Lions                                    8/13/2011
                                    Mantids                                      8/12/2011
                                   Internal Martial Arts                  8/1/2011
                     Rick's Martial Arts                     6/6/2011

February 11-12, 2012--Doris Mager!!  Doris Mager, founder of S.O.A.R. (Save Our American Raptors) was out at Brazos Bend State Park again. I try to attend her program at least once every time she comes by. This time, I sat in for 3 of them. One on Saturday (I wasn't working) and two on Sunday. They were held in the Dining Hall. One of the visitors at the park Saturday emailed me some pictures and a video clip. The pictures show below, and the video clip is here (3.8 mb wmv) or here (4.3 mb flv). In the clip, I walk to the end of the  aisle, then release E.T. the Great Horned Owl to fly to the front.  Doris has been working with Eagles and raptors for over 30 years, and has all kinds of interesting stories and facts to share. It is due to the efforts of people like Doris that we can go out and see wild Bald Eagles fly over our heads (if we are lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time). But, there was a time not that long ago that everyone thought all of our Eagles would be gone. I'm always happy to see Doris!  Today's RICKUBISCAM picture shows Doris as she is talking about the Crested Caracara--while holding Cara the Caracara.

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                    DORIS GIVES ME E.T.                                                       RICK AND E.T.                                                               E.T WATCHES US.                                   THE DINING HALL IN E.T.'S EYE.

 A FRIENDLY REMINDER:  ALL IMAGES, VIDEOS, AND TEXT  ON THIS PAGE, AND ALL MY PAGES ARE COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL AND  MAY NOT BE USED ANYWHERE WITHOUT

 PERMISSION FROM ME.
I'VE USED MUSIC IN SOME OF MY VIDEO PRODUCTIONS AND CLIPS. IT HAS BEEN LICENCED FOR MY USE, ROYALTY-FREE. IF YOU'D LIKE TO PURCHASE LICENSED MUSIC--FROM A HUGE
STOCK OF AVAILABLE TYPES--FOR A VERY REASONABLE PRICE (HEY, EVEN I CAN AFFORD IT) THEN YOU CAN GO TO:
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                                                                             CLICK ON THE IMAGE, OR CLICK HERE TO GO THERE. I'VE BEEN BUYING MUSIC FROM THEM SINCE 2003.
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DO NOT EVER APPROACH ALLIGATORS. THEY CAN BE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS IF THEY FEEL THREATENED, JUST LIKE ALMOST ANY ANIMAL. DON'T DISTURB ALLIGATORS AT THIS PARK, OR ANYWHERE ELSE.
A few comments about alligators.(2451kb)

Click this image  to see a flv video movie (625kb) of a series of eleven 11 x 14 posters I've made.

Click here to see pictures of some shirts I've designed advertising my website.

For the story of my new titanium/ceramic toy, click here  to see how I've been recovering. I've come to think that these
pages are less about me, than what I'm writing about, but some people were concerned. So, this page will show how it went.

.Click here for the RICKUBISCAM GALLERY! ----a chronicle of past rickubiscam images.
(doesn't that sound dramatic?)
Aside from the gallery, lower on this page,  there is a short list of previous "events" that I've  given special notice to with the RICKUBISCAM.
Subjects that I feel will fit the theme of one of my other pages  will eventually be moved off of this one.

THIS ENTIRE PAGE SHOULD UPDATE EVERY 60 SECONDS.  OF COURSE, IF THE CAMERA ISN'T LIVE, THEN IT  DOESN'T REALLY MATTER,
DOES IT.  (Page refresh changed to 60  minutes (3600sec.) 05/06/2001)
WHEN I AM ONLINE (AND THE CAMERA IS ON), THE CAMERA UPLOADS EVERY 60 SECONDS OR SO, SO RELOAD OR REFRESH THIS PAGE IF YOU
DON'T SEE A CHANGE (THIS MAY BE NECESSARY WITH SOME BROWSERS).
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  RICKUBISCAM on the RICKUBISCAM on the RICKUBISCAM on the....                  REPTILE GLASSES

Certain natural observations that first appeared on this page have been moved to my other pages. See the following links
for this information:

Here are my other Brazos Bend and/or critter pages:
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Alligators at Brazos Bend State Park Introduction---------Critters at Brazos Bend State Park Page 1
Snakes-nonvenomous 1-------------------------------------------Critters at Brazos Bend State Park Page 3
Snakes-nonvenomous 2-------------------------------------------Insects, non-toxic
Snakes-nonvenomous 3-------------------------------------------Spiders
Snakes-venomous--------------------------------------------------Mammals---OTTERS!
Birds-Waders--Birds-Raptors--Birds-Anhingas---------------Lizards!--Turtles!
Birds-Grebes--Birds-Other Birds

January 28, 2012--Eagle Update!!  I went out to Baytown again, this time with a different camera, and high hopes.  When I got there, there was one person already watching the nest, and he told me that he'd seen an Eagle fly off earlier. I didn't wait too long (it was great weather, anyway), but I saw an Eagle circling towards us. It circled closer, and closer...and CLOSER. I shot a few photos as it passed overhead, but only one came out well. That's the image below left.  I figured that the Eagle would land on the nest, so I focused on the nest.--just in time. I started shooting high-speed video (120fps) and caught the Eagle landing above the nest. Then, to my great suprise, another Eagle landed next to it!!  The edited video clip is here (8.2 mb). Then, I shot a few more pictures, changing setting on the camera and trying again, and was able to get a few good images. The two below middle and right are a couple of these.  Then, one Eagle took off (which I missed), and then the other one took off. I left, too.
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December 27, 2011; January 1,2, 14 2012  Ending one year and beginning the next with Bald Eagles.
I had some extra time off over the holidays, so I went to Baytown to see if I could see the Bald Eagles around the nest I can find there. I got there around 9:00 am. At about 11:00, I heard the cry of an Eagle, and an answer from the nest. And then, an Eagle appeared and landed on the nest.  I watched for some time, alternating through my camera and my binoculars, hoping that the Eagle would take off and fly my way. It finally did! And, of course, my camera got hopelessly entangled, and I couldn't catch the Eagle when it first left. But, it came around and circled above me, so I filmed it then.  The middle image below is from the video clip, which is here.
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I went back the next day, but had no luck.
On January 1, 2012, I was at Brazos Bend State Park. While I was near the tower, looking for Otters and Eagles, and whatever else, Chuck pointed across the lake, and there was an Eagle! I was able to shoot a few pictures (altough far off) before it dropped down into the rice. I watched for a long time, and it finally reappeared, but flew off into the west. The image above right is that Eagle. As I said, it was pretty far off.  One of these days I'll get a good photo or video of an Eagle at BBSP.
On the next day, January 2nd, I went out to the Baytown nest again. And I got to see an Eagle, but it stayed on the nest. The image below left is of the Eagle that day.
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Finally, I went out to Baytown again on January 14, and got to see an Eagle again. This time, it finally flew from then nest while I could film it. It was  pretty far off, but at least I got to try to shoot video of it flying. The image above right is a frame from the video clip, which is here.
Here are some Eagle facts, according to the the Texas Parks and Wildlife web page. Here is the link; and another link to a TPWD pdf with a bit more information.
The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) males are 3 feet long, head to tail, weigh 7-10 lb, and have a wingspan of 6-7 feet. Females can be 14 lb with a wingspan up to 8 feet.
Bald Eagles will eat whatever is available. They eat fish, waterfowl and other birds, small mammals, and turtles. They will also eat carrion.
In Texas, Bald Eagles nest from October to July. Peak egg-laying happens in December, with most hatching in January.  Females can lay 1-3 eggs, but usually 2. A second batch may be laid if the first batch is lost. Incubation begins when the first egg is laid, and lasts 34 - 36 days. The young fly from the nest in 11 - 12 weeks, but the adults will feed them for another 4 -6 weeks while they learn how to hunt. When they finally fly off on their own, young Eagles migrate north out of Texas, but return by September or October.
In Texas, the Bald Eagle population is split into 2 types--breeding birds and non-breeding (wintering) birds. Breeding populations are usually found in the Eastern half of Texas and along coastal counties. Non-breeding populations can be found in the Panhandle, Centraland East Texas and other suitable habitats throughout the state.
A bit more detail can be found in this study: PREY  OF  NESTING  BALD  EAGLES  IN  TEXAS  1995, David W. Mabie; M. Todd Merendino and David H. Reid. ( Document pdf can be found here. ) Here are some notes from that study:
From February through May of 1985 - 1991, food remains were collected from within and under nests representing 27 territories in Texas. 661 prey items representing 46 species of vertebrates were found. The types of prey were split almost evenly into 3 types--Birds (33.7%), reptiles (30.7%) and fish (30.1%). Mammals made up the last 5.5%.
Bird prey remains were found in 92% of the nests. American Coots were by far the most common (132) followed by Snow Geese (26) then Northern Shovelers (12) and Black-Bellied Whistling Ducks (10); followed by much smaller numbers of other birds including Cattle Egrets (7) American Bitterns (2), White Ibis (1) and Northern Harrier (1).
Reptile traces were found in 41% of the nests. Surprising (to me) is that these were all turtles. Most common were Softshell Turtles (182), followed by MIssissippi Map turtles (6) and Razorback Musk turtles (6), Red-Eared sliders (6), Common Musk turtles (3) and finally (1) Ornate Box turtle. Turtles were consistently found in nests associated with the Colorado, Brazos, and Trinity rivers.
Fish Prey was found in 83% of the nests. Various species of catfish were the most common (129), followed by Carp (40), Crappie (16), Largemouth Bass (6), Gar (3), Gizzard shad (3) and Striped bass (1). It has been mentioned that bottom-feeding fish are more vulnerable to attack from above because their attention is focused below, and that conditions that make these fish (such as catfish) accessible to surface attack (like shallow water over sandbars) would make them more likely to being attacked by eagles. Similar conditions that would allow for shallow water or basking surfaces might make for more availability of basking turtles (like Softshell turtles) in some areas.
Mammal remains were found in 33% if the nests with Eastern Cottontails and swamp rabbits the most common (23), followed by Eastern Fox Squirrels (3); Opossums (3), Nine-banded Armadillos (2), and (1) each Striped Skunk, Plains Pocket Gopher, Feral Hog, Hispid cotton rat, and Black-tailed jackrabbit.
That's quite an interesting array of food items. I was surprised by the number of turtles. I also notice that there were no nutria, alligators, or snakes found.
I'd hoped to get a hint of what to watch for while the Eagles visit Brazos Bend State Park, but most of the prey items listed in this study can be found at the park--many during nesting season. As I write this (January) American Coots are the most common noticeable birds in the park (huge groups of them), but there are ducks many other birds as well. When the winter weather is mild, many of the turtles come out to bask. Swamp rabbits, cottontails, squirrels, armadillos also live there.
I once heard a park visitor say the Bald Eagles live in the park. This isn't exactly the case. Eagles *forage* in the park. Or, Bald Eagles live in the park like you or I "live" in a supermarket. Judging from that study, Brazos Bend State Park is a supermarket for Eagles. 

November 27, 2011  It was a bit chilly at the park today. When I got there at about 8:30, I walked down to 40 Acre Lake, where I saw Chuck on the trail. He told me he'd seen 2 Bald Eagles a little while before.
So, I continued to the Observation Tower. I stayed at the corner of the trails for a while, watching for whatever would come along.
Later, I walked to the Elm Lake water station, watched for a while, and decided there were more birds active back at the Observation Tower. So, I went back.
I went up to the top of the tower, and spent a few hours watching for Eagles and Otters, and getting cold. I finally had enough of the last part, and decided to make my way back to the Nature Center. This was just before noon.
Since the sun was high, and I was walking back to the parking lot, I decided to turn off my camera. I was pretty cold by then. I was near the center of the middle island when I looked to my right (at the current "ditch" in Pilant Lake)....
...and saw 3 otters swimming towards the Observation Tower (also, towards me).
I brought up the camera, remembered it was off, turned it on, waited the few seconds for it to come on...and watched the Otters. They came closer and were going to pass (I hoped) within about 15 yards from me! That's pretty close, and I was out in the open. I decided to shoot high-speed video to stretch whatever screen time I would get. I filmed the first clip without changing anything because I really expected the Otters to see me and leave, and I wanted to get something.
They didn't leave, though, and when they passed behind some brush, I was able to turn and zoom the camera. then, they "broke cover"--sort of. When they came out from behind the bush, they were underwater!!
I filmed anyway, just in case they'd pop up. I got nice video of 3 wakes. 
While they were underwater, I took the opporunity to turn and follow them for a few steps. I didn't want them to surface and see me moving though, so I didn't go far.
The Otters surfaced, and I was able to shoot a few more clips. But I wasn't fooling the Otters, and before they went much further, they turned and moved into the rice. Two of them did at first, and the third followed a bit afterwards. Altogether the Otters were near me for about 5 minutes, a couple of which they were behind cover. So, here is a link to the edited video. I left the underwater stuff in, since the wakes are pretty distinct anyway. The images below are frame grabs from the video clips

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October 23, 2011  It was about 8:00am Sunday morning, 10/23/11. I had just walked out of Snowflake donuts on Crabb river road when my phone rang. It was David, calling from the the park. He was near the observation tower, and he told me that he'd just seen an otter cross the trail about 100 yards east of the tower. It went from 40 Acre Lake into Pilant Lake I should have been at the park at that time. But even if I was, I might not have been where the otter was. Going to the park with the object of seeing an otter--an animal which is rarely observed there--and actually *seeing* it requires a large amount of luck. The park covers about 5000 acres. We have 7 lakes, a slough, and two rivers there. I believe otters have been observed in all of those bodies of water (except, perhaps, Hale lake) at some time. Aside from a few wonderful exceptions, most of the otter sightings I've heard of have been between 10 and 60 seconds long. So one has to be where the otter is for that *exact* 10 to 30 seconds. And...one has to be looking in the right direction. I've been told of an otter crossing the trail behind me while I was unaware--and I've seen them cross trail behind other people who were also unaware of the otter's presence.
But I arrived at the park with high hopes of seeing an otter on this day, anyway. Otters sightings at the park had suddenly spiked over the last month or so.  It happened that on this Sunday, the park was hosting the Brazos Bend Gator Run, so our trails were host to a number of folks running by at irregular intervals. I went to 40-Acre lake, and moved to a spot on the north side of the trail. I was near the bend in the trail, and thought--since the sun was coming out and the evening had been cool--that I could scan  the entire trail from the Observation Tower almost to Hoot's Hollow for any alligators that might decide to sun themselves where the runners were. If one appeared, then I intended to go near it and guide runners past it.
It was about 45 minutes later, and no had alligators appeared at all. I was facing 40 Acre Lake, scanning the trails to either side of me, and the islands in front of me. Of course, I was also checking the water, looking for an otter. While looking down the trail, I caught movement out of the corner of my eye--behind me, in Pilant Lake. I turned, and an Otter was coming out of the rice right behind me. There was a little water in front of the rice at that spot, and the Otter stopped, then slipped back into the rice when I turn around and raised my camera and shot a picture. Todays RICKUBISCAM is the picture I shot.
I took the opportunity, after the Otter left, to turn around. A few seconds later, the Otter reappeared, about 5 yards further west, near the deeper water. I was ready, and was focusing the camera when I heard a runner approaching. I shot a burst of pictures, and the runner came by, and the Otter moved back into the rice. This animated gif below is the burst I shot. And the single larger image is one from the same burst.
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A seconds later, the Otter came out again, even closer to the water. Once again I focused, and *another* runner came by. I shot another burst of photos, hoping for the best; and the Otter moved back into the rice. The animated gif below is from the second burst of pictures that I shot. And the single larger image is one from the same burst.
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After a few more seconds, the Otter came out *again*! This time, it moved to the water, and was starting to get in. I was sure that it intended to cross the shallow water, then cross the trail and go into 40 Acre lake.  I had the camera up, and was reaching for the video camera on the tripod--when a bicycle came from the other direction. This time, the Otter *ran* back into the rice and I shot some pictures of its disappearing backside. And this animated gif shows the Otter leaving.
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The Otter didn't reappear. There usually aren't this many people on the trail at this time on a Sunday morning.
So, the entire sighting lasted about 2 minutes (first image 9:12 last image 9:14), but the Otter only appeared for 10 seconds at a time.

April 24, 2011:  It was another busy Easter at Brazos Bend State park. However, before the big rush started, I got to hear a chorus of alligator bellows at about 8:30 am. I spent most of the day riding around the lakes, and educating park visitors. I got word that a fawn was visible from one of the trails. A doe will sometimes leave a new fawn in a protected spot for a while. This fawn was in a good spot, across the water from the trail. Today's RICKUBISCAM is cropped from one of the pictures I shot. While I was watching the fawn, the clouds moved away and the sun came out. When it did, it shined through the trees onto the fawn, making this wonderful image. The fawn slept peacefully through the day, at least it seemed to be fine whenever I passed it (and I passed it many times today).  Below is a larger version of the image.

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02/08/2007---Buddha the Pup   now has her own page. For Buddha-related news, you can go here.

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         ------------------------------------      40 ACRE LAKE!!  11/19/2006
Here is a picture I shot 11/19/2006 from the top of the Observation Tower at 40 Acre Lake. What an improvement from the summer! Click on the image for one that's a little bigger.

I have created all the content on *my* pages. That means that I have either shot the video, taken the pictures, or performed any demonstrations. That also means that I've edited every image on these pages, that is, I've cropped, enhanced, resized, labeled, and otherwise optimized *every* single image on my pages. That means that I've also edited, enhanced, extracted images from, recoded (in two or three or four formats) every *video clip* on these pages. I've also, for better or worse, composed all the text and layout on these pages. I've had to learn to use the various utilities for doing all of this, as well as finding and legally getting copies of them in the first place. I'm also responsible for all the hardware used to do this. I also pay for the server space used for all of this information as well as for my access to it. It costs a lot of money, time, and effort to put these pages out here...hopefully to entertain and to inform. And this is *after* I spend time at my "day job".  People are welcome to the information here, but if it's used elsewhere, then I deserve credit for my effort. If it is used for someone else's profit, then I deserve part of that profit. *That* is the purpose of my notices about copyright.

           This page was born 9/16/1999.  Rickubis designed it.  (such as it is.)
           Go back to my home page, Welcome to Rickubis.com
How many come by to see the RICKUBISCAM ? Well, lets look at the counterprovided by: WEBCOUNTER.
           Counter started June 18, 2001.  10/18/2011 = 10428  1/10/2012 = 10473
It's the Lost Skeleton of Cadavra!  Go buy it! This movie makes me laugh all the time. If you share my love of 50' B-movies, you'll probably like this movie.
Check these clips  01--02--03--04--05--06--07  (1 & 5 should interest my ranger friends).  They are in chronological order, but don't give away too much.
Clips copyright of the various owners. No ownership by me is implied and clips are only here to promote the film.