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We get a preview of the 12th annual Fort Myers Film Festival, which runs May 18-22. The festival includes screenings of more than 70 films in seven categories and includes submissions from all over the world as well as films about and shot here in Southwest Florida. We’ll talk with the festival’s founder Eric Raddatz.

The Brown-headed Nuthatch is a tiny bird with a very short tail and a very squeaky voice. Indeed, its voice sounds like that of a “rubber ducky”. The Brown-headed Nuthatch is one of three nuthatch species found in Florida, but the only one regularly found in south Florida. The Brown-headed Nuthatch is a bird of pines and is found in pinelands of Florida and the Southeast. It is a bird that feeds on insects and spiders that it finds in bark crevices and among the needles of pines. It eats pine seeds retrieved from open cones. Nuthatches fill a niche somewhat similar to that of a woodpecker – except that they not only move up a tree surface, but also down – head-first – thus they readily finds insects and spiders from above as well as from below or from the side – approaches that woodpeckers usually take. Like woodpeckers, nuthatches are cavity nesters. They readily excavate their own nest in well-rotted wood, use a natural cavity, or make use of an abandoned woodpecker cavity. Brown-headed Nuthatches are social birds and constantly chatter – squeaking – as they hunt for food.

Halloween is a holiday that brings to mind creatures of the night such as bats and many spiders. These nocturnal creatures are ones we have some unease about because we rarely see them, encounter them by surprise in the dark, and often have little understanding of their role in nature. We often misinterpret their behavior and they sometimes leave us with a sense of fear of what they might do to us. Yes, tropical American vampire bats drink blood and in doing so can transmit disease to its victims. North American and most other bats are insect eaters that provide an important service in consuming mosquitos that can transmit diseases to the animals they bite. Most bats also consume large numbers of moths and other insects that feed on plants that our livestock or we depend on.

Common Gallinules are resident birds found in ponds and marshes across Florida – especially where tall reeds, rushes, or cattails line the edges in shallow water. More northern populations are migratory. Adult Common Gallinules are somewhat chicken-like in appearance, but have blue-gray feathers, a bit of brown on the back, and white feathers that form a horizontal line along each side. Adults have a yellow-tipped bright red bill that extends to form a shield over its forehead. Young chicks are covered with black down – except for the top of the head which is nearly bald. Their tiny wings are bare, looking like pink toothpicks sticking out from their side. Downy chicks also have a red bill with a yellow tip – but no shield over the forehead. As the chicks grow and change plumage, they become dull gray birds with a dull, somewhat mottled yellow-brown bill. Older chicks stay with the pair and help feed the younger chick – a behavior known as “aunting”. As the bill of an older chick takes on the bright red color of an adult, the male chases it away.

Here in Southwest Florida about 30% of the population is 60 and older. That translates to about 1.3 million people, and this population and percentage is growing. Demographic trends show an expected 38% increase in adults over 60 by 2040 and a 62% increase in adults over 70 by that same year. While southwest Florida has been a destination for older people when they retire for decades, this area’s aging population is chronically underserved. We learn about the work being done to address the need at Florida Gulf Coast University’s still relatively new Shady Rest Institute on Positive Aging.

Here in Southwest Florida about 30% of the population is 60 and older. That translates to about 1.3 million people, and this population and percentage is growing. Demographic trends show an expected 38% increase in adults over 60 by 2040 and a 62% increase in adults over 70 by that same year. While southwest Florida has been a destination for older people when they retire for decades, this area’s aging population is chronically underserved. We learn about the work being done to address the need at Florida Gulf Coast University’s still relatively new Shady Rest Institute on Positive Aging.

PBS NewsHour for Monday, January 7, 2013

As NATO's 70th anniversary summit kicks off, member countries squabble

70 years after start of Korean War, peace on Korean Peninsula remains elusive

70 million years ago, several species of dinosaur nested in the Arctic.