About Us
A true family business, Nature’s Edge Video was created to share the beauty of our wetland’s native birds (along with an occasional mammal) in their natural habitat. Doug Conaway and son Tom began filming wildlife in some of the few remaining untouched wetland areas of northern California, primarily in southern Sonoma County.
In the beginning, Doug and Tom would film, then come home and share the raw footage with friends and family. Week after week, reaction to the footage was so positive the filmmakers continued and it became a passion that they followed year after year. Birding became a hobby and pleasure for the whole family.
Now, after years of filming, Doug, Tom and the rest of their family have found a way to share—with the entire world—the beauty and wonder that they have been chronicling for years and offer you the opportunity to share it in turn with your friends and loved ones, along with music and inspirational messages.
Doug and Tom have been filming in the same general areas for years, allowing both constancy and flux to be reflected in the footage. The ephemeral nature of migratory birds and wetland habitats meant that some days when they went out, there might be thousands of ducks or hundreds of pelicans. The next week, they’d be gone, following their ancient patterns of migration.
These filmmakers’ dedication is partly borne out of their desire to capture on film what little remains of California’s native wetlands. As much as 90 percent of California’s wetland habitat has vanished; the singular beauty of a wetland at sunrise is a rare sight for most. Their dedication is further evidenced by the fact that Tom, as a result of a spinal injury at age four, is in a wheelchair. Wetlands are a fragile and unique resource; filming often requires pre-dawn departures, full camouflage and an impressive array of technical equipment. Filming wildlife is an endeavor which Doug and Tom are glad to be able to pursue.
Doug, an electrician, and his wife Alice, a licensed nurse, have been married 15 years and have three wonderful teenagers: Nick, Tom, and Emma. Doug volunteers with the Sonoma Ecology Center and cherishes the opportunity to teach children about the birds. 
From National Geographic Kids Story by Tom Conaway as told to Elisabeth Deffner. Photographs by Barbara Ries. Used with permission. Barbara Ries Photography © 2007
