Chipmunk in Paradise
Last time, it was a mouse. This time, I could tell just by the sound in the hopper that it was something somewhat bigger. I cautiously removed the bungee cord from the top of the feeder and flipped open the top.
Out hopped a very surprised chipmunk, who had clearly believed that this feeder was his personal little piece of heaven: covered, dry, safe from predators, easy-in-easy-out, and filled with food!
He quickly fled into the woods, and I was disappointed that I hadn't had the presence of mind to carry a camera with me while filling the feeders. But that's life. I filled the squirrel feeder, re-bungeed it, and headed back to the house, damp but chuckling at the encounter.
Saturday as I was out and around during my usual chores, and stopped by our local Benny's store, an inexpensive "Chinese Goods 'R Us" type of store and found that they had video cameras on sale for $40. Not one to miss a bargain of that type, I grabbed one on the way to the register.
Once I got it home and opened it, we were pleasantly surprised by the reasonable quality of what is in essence a cheap Chinese-made camera. In fact, you can see for yourself just how decent (not great, mind you, but decent) the quality is, as we promptly stuck it outside on a tripod near the feeder to see what we could capture.
Imagine our surprise:
Notice how still the wee beastie is as he assesses the danger potential of the red camera in front of him. It almost looks like the video is frozen, but it's not.
In checking online, I see that the Cobra DVC900 is out of stock at Amazon, Overstock, and pretty much everywhere else, so I'm thinking we got a really good deal; it allows us an extra camcorder to have on hand, just in case I dunk another one in the drink...
If you can find one of these babies for $50 or less, grab it. It's a lot of fun, and a handy little gadget.
See you by the feeders, camcorder in hand,
Mrs. CapeCodAlan
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding
Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding
Comments
My Goodness!!!
Buy one for me. I'll buy it from you. That's one that will definitely do what I need on my upcoming flying excursions.
Cheers,
Harry "Gipper" Morris
Posted by: Harry Morris | October 5, 2009 4:39 PM
Hi Harry,
Wish I could buy one for you... Our local store is empty as are the Internet sources like Amazon. The cam ain't perfect... It needs a good SD RAM card, and the video is mediocre at best. Still, for an emergency cam, it's a pretty good deal. We'll keep an eye out for you though!
Best,
CCA and Mrs. CCA...
Posted by: CapeCodAlan | October 7, 2009 12:06 AM