Home  Calendar  Departments  Directory  Gallery  Documents  History

Larry King’s film Our Majestic Waterbirds

There will be a showing of Larry King’s classic film Our Majestic Waterbirds at Pine Lake Lodge on June 27, 2018 at 7:30pm. Larry King will narrate his 65 minute 16 mm silent film. Larry and Maryde King write:

This movie is about waterbirds showing both their adaptations for living in their watery environment, and the need for protecting the habitat these birds need to survive. The film starts with waterbirds that have always fascinated us, geese and swans, then shows some birds we are not familiar with because they are birds that spend their entire life on the open sea, only coming on land to nest like the Gannets and Puffins. And last, we show some of the great wading birds like the Blue Herons that nest in our area.

The film runs a few minutes over an hour and contains chapters or segments on Swans, Geese, Puffins and Auks, Gannets, Osprey and Eagles, Terns and Skimmers, and Herons. These birds are introduced followed by some examples of how they live, such as feeding, nesting habits, etc.

The birds are wild birds, filmed in their natural habitat with the exception of two closeups of a Bald Eagle (shot at Berkshire Bird Paradise) and some closeups of the western Tufted Puffin, some Murres, and some Pigeon Guillemots (photographed at the Newport, Oregon, Aquarium).

Scenes for this film have been shot over a period of about 20 years but the editing and artwork was not started until mid 1997 and the present film was essentially finished in early 1998 and we still have enough additional material to make another equal length film sometime in the (not too near) future.

Our majestic waterbirds took a beating in the last century. The sea birds in particular were slaughtered by the millions when nesting for their meat and oil, and their nests were raided for eggs and down while the waders were shot for their feathers for the millinery industry. The Labrador Duck and the Great Auk were driven to extinction and many others like the Eider Duck, the Trumpeter Swan, the Whooping Crane and the Egrets to near extinction but have been recovering now that they are protected.

Today, the threat is different: oil spills, pollution, and loss of habitat. While more subtle, the effect can be equally deadly. Public support is needed for protection of these birds and the public will support them only if they are aware and appreciate having these birds. This film is dedicated to that end.

The Kings, March 1998

Copyright © James McMartin Long 2017–2024