eBirdseed.com Wild Bird Feeding Blog

By Location, Birds and Natural History Books (a global reference)

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 12:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Book Review: Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East

Yes, it's time for another book review, and quite frankly, I've been waiting for some time to contribute my 1/50th of a dollar on this subject -- I like dragonflies, but I wouldn't know a Blue-faced Darner from a Halloween Pennant. So here we go...

I'll follow my standard review pattern: (book logistics such as paper, binding, etc; the immediate and long-term ease of use; book organization; photography; and lastly an overall impression).

Book logistics:This 5.5" by 8.5" by 1.25", 32 oz. paperback field guide consists of 538 pages of quality glossy paper, On those pages lie over 1,000 photos, range maps, and illustrations plus the obligatory text.
Immediate and long-term ease of use: Grrr... I'll get back to the 'Immediate use' part of the review in my 'Overall impression' section below. As for the long-term usability of this work -- that's exceptional.
Book organization: This is the standard 'A+' from Princeton University Press (PUP):
- There are 47 pages of intro, preface, table of contents, natural history of odonates, feeding, breeding, anatomy, blah, blah, blah...
- Next comes the meats of the book: 115 pages of damselfliy descriptions and 352 dragonfliy descriptions. All told, all of the 336 eastern species are covered. Cool...
- Each critter is described as follows:
  - Description (photos fall into the 'Description' or 'Identification' categories)
  - Identification
  - Natural History
  - Habitat
  - Flight Season
  - Distribution (when appropriate)
- Appendix
- Glossary
- Index
Photography: Excellent as always, though a tad on the small side. (Then again, what can one expect from a field guide for the diminutive odonates?)
Overall impression: This is a wonderful book for the intermediate and avid odonates aficionado. If you know your way around the wee beasties, this is a must own. Unfortunately, for us new to the game, trying to find a just-spotted dragonfly out on the deck is nigh impossible. As in the case of the Petrels book, there needs to be some sort of location cross index. (Example: In MA, there are 124 possible dragonflies/damselflies that might be out on that deck -- I had to turn to the USGS site to find these guys.) I'd like to at least be able to narrow down my search to my state...
All that being said, I can't imagine any serious backyarder not owning this book.
Superb work Mr. Paulson...

Bookworm by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

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By Location, Birds and Natural History Books (a global reference)

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 11:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Blue Jay and Motion-Activated Cameras, Etc.

Hi,

Not too much to talk about tonight, so I thought I'd dig out an old photo from the archive. The one above is from 2007 (gasp!) Kind of fun though. I used the now defunct NovaBird motion-triggered camera to take the shot. Unfortunately, both the camera and the manufacturer are now belly-up, but it was a blast while it lasted. (I'd guess that I got at least 10,000 pics out of that cam. Oh well...)

That gets me to thinking... I wonder what else there is out there that performs the same basic function, and how the pictures compare... Here goes...

I'm going to use my time-tested method of product searching by looking on Amazom, and finding the 'most customer reviewed'/'best customer reviews' to see what I can find. I guess I'm also going to want to see some photographs as well. I'm hoping for something with the same focal distance and resolution as the NB (20" and 2MP respectively.)

First find is the 'Bushnell Trophy Cam': I've worked with Bushnell before, and they're a respectable optics company.... This one is weather proof, the quality of the 8 MP pics is good, it can handle the night, the Trophy Cam comes in a number of varieties... Al told, not bad for apx. $160 $260.
Primos Truth Cam 35 Camera: This takes 3 MP images and has a 1.5 second trigger speed. The picture quality looks good. Once again, there are several models. Suggested prices range from about $150 to $250.
The last rig I'm going to look at is the 'Cuddleback Attack IR'... Same kind of story as the ones above -- long battery life, simple to use, takes a ton of color pics, weatherproof. In this case, it takes 5 MP shots, but that should be fine.

All told, I'd say it's pretty much a tie... In my case, I'll rummage through Amazon and find the best price (I'll bet I can drive it under $100), best customer reviews, and best warranty. (I'm not worried about taking gazillions of pics, video, or year-long battery life. I just want something that's rugged, delivers a decent shot, and doesn't require proprietary software.) "Mission Control, we have a starting point."

And that's about it -- a quick, impromptu glance at the newest remote, movement-triggered cameras. After I figure out the details, all I have to do is talk with the boss...

As always, by the feeders...

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

Live eBirdseed.com streaming cam

By Location, Birds and Natural History Books (a global reference)

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 11:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Designing Another Streaming Cam System

Hi,

Last time we talked, I had just brought down our "old faithful" streaming backyard webcam... Increased security measurements on my end (not eBirdseed.com's) unfortunately required that I take the poor thing offline. So now what?

Well... Glad you asked! For some time now, I've been talking about bringing this vid down, and starting anew. And here we are... Before we get started, a word about major projects in general (let alone establishing a new live video feed 24X7...) Take it from a well-tempered engineer and boatbuilder - look at the big picture first and then dwell down into the details while at the same time not losing sight of the persnickety gotcha's that crop up along the way. That being said, I like to hand-draw a rough outline just as a starting point...

first flowchart_400.JPG

That doesn't look so bad... The signal comes off the camera, passes through a buried "active" USB cable (to bust the 16' limitation), is absorbed by the kitchen PC, which then passes it on via our network to the router and ultimately our cable modem and the fog of the Web. What could go wrong? The next thing you know, you'll be watching our backyard birds live. Anywho, that's the "Big Picture", and it seems basically sound right now. But... There are other considerations... Here are the preliminaries without getting too tangled in the "persnicketies":

Cost...
What equipment will be required? (The new stuff is truly remarkable!)
How to bury a cable...
And then there's the matter of wind rain and snow...
The stream should have some degree of mobility...
And finally who will we use to host this puppy?

Yes, I've looked at all of those, and have some ideas... But that's for next time...

'Til then, see you by the feeders Cecil B...

CapeCodAlan

P.S. Did I ever tell you about our word search contest???

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Taking a Night Photo

Well, I pulled it off... I actually pulled it off. I managed to take a night photograph. Check out what the eye sees (roughly) vs. what the camera can see... First, the eye...

resized_streaming backyard at night with no flash_IMG_1002.JPG

And now here's what a decent camera (Canon Eos) can take in...

resized_backyard at night with no flash_IMG_1002.JPG

So how did I stumble upon such a miracle? (Hey! It's a miracle for me.)

First I put the camera on a tripod. The following will never work if the camera isn't "bolted to bedrock."
Next, I turned off all lighting around the cam. Can you say, "Pitch black?"
Third, I turned off both auto-focus and the lens stabilizer (Gulp!)
Set the Canon to "Landscape"
Manually focused the beast. (Gulp! Gulp!)
And finally held my breath (literally) and used a remote shutter trigger to capture the image. It took a good 5 to 10 seconds for the Eos to do its magic.

But when all is said and done, for me, this opens the door to a whole new aspect of photography - night shooting. (True, the shots will need to be cleaned up, but at least I know it's doable.)

Stoked by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

P.S. Don't forget our word search contest!

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 4:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Reply to "The Gipper", and a Raffle to Help the Gulf

Hi all,

In response to the wife's entry, "Wild Turkeys 2.0, Son(s) of"". Long-time (and much appreciated) reader and commenter Harry "Gipper" Morris left the following thoughts on that post...

Good story; good pics. LOL I put out my first Suet Cake yesterday to see if it would attract different birds. Today, the first one to explore it was one of my four squirrels. He only smelled it, then went on to the Sunflower seed set aside just for squirrels. Later today, the first bird to approach it was a Common Grackle who gingerly ate it, then went immediately to the Bird Bath and drank water. 5 minutes later, the squirrel came back, smelled it, looked at me as if to say, "If its OK with the Grackle, its OK with me", and began to nibble away. Pretty interesting. Who's next? Cheers, Harry "Gipper" Morris

My reply follows...

Funny about what animals will eat, won't eat, and how they'll change their minds. They clearly can be covetous. I know that you're not a big fan of crows Harry, but I am for this reason... I've done a lot of research on crows, and I'm firmly convinced that crows are the most intelligent non-humans on earth. Their ability to solve non-natural problems with non-natural materials is, for want of a better term, "eerie..."

But beyond all that, they have their own language and social patterns, and that seems to extend beyond their own species. This may sound crazy, but I think I'm beginning to understand just a few of their calls and gestures. For instance, a "crow alarm" (hawk in the area) is undeniable. Their calls for food are quite distinct. The corvids' need for eye contact and facial recognition is undeniable. And their protection of their "turf" is nothing short of gallant.

So Harry, to answer your question, the "Who's next" will be more of a focus on the crow... I will only add a couple of caveats... First, crows (like squirrels) need their own feeders. They are wild animals, and will in turn eat virtually anything when hungry. (It's interesting that in our yard, the crows, squirrels, and smaller birds intermingle. In fact, the crows go to great lengths to secure the area from cats, foxes, coyotes, hawks, etc.) The second caveat has to do with how much I'll interact with the birds. In my book, wild animals should always fear humans. IMHO, to make a "pet" out of a wild creature is to put a bull's eye on its chest.

Now... About that raffle. Short and sweet,.. the New Orleans Saints have decided to raffle off one of their Super Bowl rings with the proceeds going to help out the Gulf Coast oil spill region. Read more here. Now I'm not a huge football fan, but is that cool or what???

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 3:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Another Bird Hit, More BNF, Deepwater Horizon, etc.

Hi all,

Yesterday we had another bird hit against our glass slider. We try to keep our curtains drawn, but even that isn't fail safe. Thankfully, the grackle seemed only stunned and flew away (I assume) on his own.

As I started typing this, we had not one, but two night visitors. First came the possum, which was promptly run off by the raccoon below...

raccoon resized 2010-05-09_234022.jpg

A couple nights ago I was lucky enough to snag a pic of a rabbit. I had about a two second window for that shot...

I know those images aren't exactly the stuff of National Geographic, but to watch the actual movement makes it obvious as to what animal is out there... Possums slowly meander. Raccoons waddle with a deliberate purpose. Rabbits dart.

Truth be told, I really have no idea of the nighttime traffic of wildlife in the backyard. I simply keep a re-sized window open on the computer next to mine, and glance up now and again. I wonder what I've missed...

And on to the oil spill front... It looks like confusion reigns supreme... From The Washington Post:

The decision on whether to use chemical dispersants deep below the sea's surface to break up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill boils down to two central questions: Is it worth taking this unprecedented step to protect the region's sensitive and ecologically valuable wetlands, even at the potential expense of its marine life? And because the scientific literature on this question is so sparse, should federal officials conduct extensive new research before making the leap?

Oh goody... So now do we not only not know whether to use dispersants, we don't even know what segment(s) of the ecology will be affected. I think the Wall Street Journal nailed it:

The larger reality is that energy production is never going to be accident free. No difficult human endeavor is, whether space travel or using giant cranes to build skyscrapers. The rest of the world is working to exploit its offshore oil and gas reserves despite the risk of spills. We need to be mindful of such risks, and to include prevention and clean up in the cost of doing business, but a modern economy can't run without oil. (Bold mine, CCA.)

One would think that after all the trillions of dollars we as a country have spent on oil (under both liberal and conservative administrations), we would finally have a clue as to stopping or at least controlling a deep-water oil spill like the one we're facing now. Unbelievable. If you'd like to lend a hand, the folks at The Conservation Fund might be a good starting place...

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Night Coyote, Clever Crow, and Woodshop Layout

Hi all,

First off, check out the eBirdseed.com cam screen shot I got of a coyote last night.

It may not look like much, but it's still fun to look up and realize that there's a visitor out there. If you're not familiar with Backyard Night Fishing, here's the link. (Oops! We just had a possum wander through... Very cool.) Every so often we'll have an owl or maybe a bat swoop by. Of course, it moves too quickly to "Print Screen" but it's still a hoot if you know what I mean. Then there's the occasional mouse or skunk...

Onward...

I told you that crows were smart! Check out the Caledonia Crow video inside this BBC piece. I don't know about you, but in a strange way, that vid just gives me the creeps. (Back in 1974, a strange, slow-moving sci-fi movie named "Phase IV" was released. The basic premise was that for some reason desert ants developed a collective consciousness, and attacked their fellow desert-dwelling human counterparts. It was a genuinely frightening movie on a couple of levels: not only was the insect cinematography excellent, but it also had that "that's-impossible-but-I-wouldn't-be-amazed-if it-did-actually-happen" possibility. (Hitchcock's "The Birds" springs to mind as well, as does "The Andromeda Strain".)) Anyhoo... Back to the BBC creepy crow... I just get this nagging feeling that if he only teamed up with his buddies and put their "mind" to it, we'd be in in a hurt locker.

And finally, a bit more on the woodworking 101... Before we start talking about tools, we first have to have a place to store them - enter the shop. Shops will vary depending on what you have available, your needs, your price range, your proposed project(s), your living situation, etc. But here are eight key considerations:

Have room enough. Tearing apart a chunk of house just to get a boat out of a basement is a bad thing. Trust me, I know.
Have heat. Trying to build a birdhouse (or anything) when the temperature is 17 degrees is an excruciating process. Been there. (And for Heaven's sake, use SAFE heat! I lost a childhood friend to carbon monoxide.)
Have adequate light to work safely. Not being able to see properly is a great way to get blood on your project. Done that..
Have a means for safe ventilation. Paints, varnishes, some glues, etc, can get you walking on the streets of brain damage pronto. (Think of a hangover on steroids.)
Be able to move your equipment around freely. Immobile machines and clutter under foot can cause injury. You try stumbling with a circular saw.
Use an area that you can control completely. A shop is no place for children, pets, or neophytes to be wandering. Once again, trust me, I know.
Establish a rock-solid work surface. Trying to cut a piece on a tippy old chair is just kicking "Old Mr. Fate" right in the wallet. Yeah, I learned that one the hard way too.
Have an adequate electrical service for your intended endeavors. If you're not sure, get a master electrician involved ASAP. (Man, it's exciting to have a table saw go dead right in the middle of a sizable cut!)

Do you see a pattern in the list above? In other words, I've made the mistakes so that you don't have to. Be safe... Be safe... Be safe...

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Backyard Night Fishing Re-Visited (and Things that Go Bump in the Night)

Hi all,

Well, here we are again... Backyard night fishing - the hobby of trying to spot (better yet get a print screen of) a creature in our lower 40. So here are our latest catches:

Raccoon BNF raccoon_400_ellipse 2-23-10.png

Possum

Skunk

Two Raccoons two more raccoons_resized_ellipse_2010-02-23_040807.jpg

Bunny Wabbit

Yeah, I know that none of the images will challenge the works of Ansel Adams, but there's honest to goodness fun there. And beyond the silliness, there's something more sublime...To watch this cam is to (for me anyway) reluctantly hope for some "thing" - some unknown creature that makes the house go "bump in the night." Possibly a flying squirrel, or possibly--who knows?

Speaking of possibilities, who would have thought it possible that we'd be over 22,000 hits on the backyard bird cam? 22,780, to be exact. I'd like to thank all of you who are watching, and remind you that once the hummingbirds are back (mid- to late April), you'll be seeing the hummingbird feeder in all its glory, with our usual quota of ruby-throats, instead of the distant shots of the bird feeder out back.

See you by the bird cam,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 3:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Another Rainy, Wild Night on Cape Cod

Hi all,

squirres and dove in rain_resized_101_0065.jpg

Took this picture earlier - squirrels and dove in the wind-driven rain... The storm has only worsened since then; we've had brownouts twice. For obvious reasons, I'm going to make this post a quick one. (Thank heavens this is only rain.)

On a completely different note, there is something I do want to touch on - that of the handling of wild animals. Two days ago, a trainer (Dawn Brancheau) was tragically killed by a killer whale at SeaWorld Adventure Park. Obviously, this isn't the first time that this sort of thing has happened... Steve Irwin's death and Roy Horn's (of Siegfried & Roy fame) mauling leap to mind.

Look, no one questions the love these people had/have for animals. And no one questions the need for parks and refuges and zoos. But it is unfortunate that the public continues to be inundated with "shows" that promote close human/wild animal interaction. Wild animals (including birds) are just that - wild. Here on the Cape, many harbors have signs warning people not to feed the geese, and it seems that every day, there's someone out there trying to hand feed a goose. Sigh...

I'm not saying that we should stop feeding the birds. (In fact, just the opposite... We humans have managed to mangle the natural environment and at this point should be providing roughly 20% of birds' food source.) But I am saying that attempts to "play" with wild animals is just a terrible idea. In my very humble opinion, activities like backyard birding are fantastic so long as we keep our distance. Wild birds are not pets, "buddies", or "pals" no more than whales or tigers. They are wild animals and should be treated as such.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 9:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

And the Storm Approaches and Another BNF Hit...

Hi all,

Well... Here we go...

Accuweather.com says:

"The combination of strong winds and heavy snowfall on Wednesday will cause some roads to become impassable as the snow quickly accumulates and drifts. Snow drifts could reach 4 feet in many areas by Wednesday night. The winds will howl past 40 mph at times, with some gusts to 50 mph along the coast.
Motorists who are able to travel will encounter whiteout conditions and very slick, snow-covered roads throughout the day and into the evening. In addition to blowing and drifting the snow, the winds could down snow-laden trees and power lines."

Oh goody! Let's see... Not too much to say about a blizzard... We've got all our emergency supplies in. We have plenty of suet, water (we buy it by the case), and seed. And we certainly know how to dress in layers. If we lose power, so be it.

On a happier, (though perhaps more ominous note) we had a night visitor!

420_BNF RACCOON 2-09-10.PNG

That white blob in the lower center of the screen is a raccoon under the feeders... Was he out foraging in preparation for the storm? I don't know. But there he is... Another trophy for the BNF folder. (That is so cool!)

The winds are picking up so I'll sign off... Be safe!

We'll see you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 10:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Streaming Cam Back Up... Strange Bird Story...

Hi all,

First things first... The eBirdseed.com live streaming bird cam is back up and running again... To date we've had 21,620 hits on that cam alone.

(We had about 4,000 on the first web camera.) As time goes on I'll experiment with ways to get the rig back outdoors and improve the image quality significantly without exposing the hardware to Mother Nature's wrath. (The plan is to have several video camera cables available for the single cam... One connection will be to the current backbone of our inside configuration, and another will function as our good-weather outdoor hookup... All we have to do is bring down the entire system, unplug the vid from one cable and hook it to the other, and then reboot everything. (Think of a single lamp that can either be connected to a 15' extension cord or to a one-hundred footer.) Whoopee! I get to play with a soldering iron and cables and jacks and stuff!

Putting the technical aside, Mrs. CCA and I went to a Super Bowl party tonight, and we struck up a most interesting conversation with a woman who had a rather strange encounter with a large bird. She said that she first spotted the creature when it was staring at her through one of her windows. She said that it was only about 8' away at the time... To make this more intriguing, she said that after she left for work, the same bird (or similar ilk) appeared two towns away at a traffic light. Her description was that it was big, and brownish in color... My guess was that it was a turkey, but she believed otherwise. She was of the idea that it was some sort of raptor - a hawk or even an eagle. That certainly is possible... In any event, the moment was too transfixing to warrant a dash for a camera... So we may never know. But it goes to show that even in the midst of a great Super Bowl, the topic of birds is never too far away...

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 11:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Birds and Feeders, the 24/7/365 Hobby

Hi all,

Well there they are. (Not that you can see them - the birds are the little black dots...)

400_birds in rain_1_25_10 002.jpg

Just a bunch of birds in the rain. From what I could tell, they were robins and grackles. Kind of neat, even if it is messy outside. But that got me to thinking. Name an active (vs. passive) outdoor pastime that can be enjoyed for nothing (or as much as you want to spend), 24 hrs/day, 7 days/week, 52 weeks/year... What's more, you can have fun from inside or out, under any weather condition, and burn as many calories as you want to including zero. Add to that, this bit of recreation can involve no technical stuff, or it can be ideal for the geek... Better yet, you can partake, even at work. You know what? Aside from backyard birding and feeder watching, I can't think of a single avocation that is so versatile. (Don't forget, I include backyard night fishing (BNF) in this diversion.) Maybe, it's just me, but I have fun with the activity, soup to nuts.

Let's see what else?

Well, the hutch build goes reluctantly forward. But cherry being the obstinate wood that it is, twists and warps at will. So trying to truly square the beast up (let alone get some sort of decent grain pattern) is an exercise in trade offs.

Sorry to cut this short, but gotta run...

Wait! Wait! Wait! Don't have to run just yet... Don't forget the Great Backyard Bird Count coming up February 12 - 15... It's fun, free, informative, easy, quick...

Now I've really got to run...

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 2:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Turkey Horn and BNF

Hi all,

Well, all the other cameras may have decided to go pining for the fjords, but the old NovaBird still hangs in there...

turkey horn_DSC_0061_400.JPG

Now about that "horn" or spur on the front of the turkey's face... That is... That is... OK, I'll be honest, I have no clue as to what that thing is. Let me look it up. Hang on... That is (he says with his most authoritative sounding voice) the snood of an un-excited turkey. If the bird had been in a fuss, that protrusion would have been engorged with blood, deep red, and drooping over the side of the beak. (Thanks big time to Dog Breed Info Center.)

Onward...

And what have we here? Why nothing short of a Backyard Night Fishing (BNF) double...

bnf double header_400.jpg

On the left, a cat, and on the right, a possum. I kid you not... Obviously, I run the cam on the right for eBirdseed. But on the left is a camera I've brought on-line for a wine business. It just so happened that both streams caught these animals at the same time... And there you are. I know that this seems like a silly habit, but it isn't. Late the other night, I happened to glance up for just for a moment, and watched an owl swoop by the eBirdseed lens - absolutely beautiful.

And speaking of beautiful, take a look at the sky during sunrise...

sky at sunrise 2010-01-23_064205.jpg

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Another Cam Bids Adieu, Night Creatures, UFO, and Hutch

Hi all,

We've got a lot to cover, so let's get started...

First off, yet another camera has decided to stop playing nice with us. This time it's the Cobra video camera that exited stage left. Oh goody. It's not that the cam was pivotal, but it was a fun test bed.

Onward...

We've had a pretty good stint of backyard night fishing (BNF). (And you thought that only birds use those feeders and seed.) The first photograph is that of a possum...

BNF possum_resized_with circle.JPG

Yeah, I know... The image isn't the greatest. But that's OK. I still bagged my possum. (I like to think of it as a "Catch a Snapshot and Release" program.) The pic below is much worse, but it is indeed that of a coyote. I watched for some time as the animal moved back and forth before hitting the "Print Screen" button.

Now about that UFO I saw way back when... This is what it looked like... Take away the trees, raise the light to about 30', and you've got it.

strange light_2010-01-19_010326_resized.jpg

Obviously, this light was a spot from a neighbor's house, but the actual UFO I saw was at least three quarters of a mile away from the nearest facing building, moved rapidly, and then shot off... I still say swamp gas or, "I dunno."

And finally, there is the great hutch project...

full hutch_400_IMG00022.jpg

and...

hutch door_mortise_400_2010-01-19_214637.jpg

A long time ago, I used to be a cabinetmaker, and every so often I like to dabble in the pastime. This hutch has been years in the making, and is all cherry. (Note to self - never work in cherry again. It's so hard it eats tools.) But why cherry and why such solid construction? Because I'm not just building for the wife and I... I'm building for generations unborn and complete strangers. It's a weird feeling really...

I'm just going to be over here by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding