eBirdseed.com Wild Bird Feeding Blog

Take a look at the pic below...

There... Does that look so tough??? Those walkie talkies always work... period.

Here's the backdrop to this post...

Yesterday, there was a beautiful oriole just splashing in our front birdbath -- it would have made for a fantastic photo. I grabbed my monopod/Kodak and set up what would have been a remarkable image... except that the batteries (or electricals on the camera) were deader than Julius Caesar... (It turns out it was the batteries...)

So why can't we in America make good stuff like we used to? Motorola (note the name on the walkie talkies) has long been known as a fine American product. Henry rifles are simply superb. Case, Kershaw, Buck, Leatherman, and Ka-Bar are all excellent and reliable as well. So putting aside cheap cost, why are we continuing to buy cheap junk from China when we can make (or at least assemble) quality stuff right here? All the savings in the world will never bring back the lost oriole...

Anyway, the photograph is gone, and we're stuck with a manufacturing society who doesn't even know who it is anymore... Oh, for a camera I can grab as reliably as I do my Motorola...

By those senselessly frustrating feeders...

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 8:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I like to think of the construction techniques used to create the above abomination as 'Slam Dash' -- I had the scrap and a few minutes, and I went for it. I used a simple box I built while practicing making finger joints (and stuck together with a waterproof polyurethane glue...) then ripped a back support and bottom, drove some screws, drilled a few vent holes, bored an entrance, slapped on some linseed oil, and she was done. If only mounting was that easy...

The picture above was taken using our new homemade monopod. After working with the mono, I'll rarely resort to a tripod unless I need a granite-solid platform and have the time to set it up. Granted, the monopod takes a bit of dexterity (you may end up riding it like a stick horse, but that doesn't take long to learn... Besides, the 'pod makes for the perfect walking stick... (BTW and FWIW -- a 5' long staff with a 1/2" long pointy bolt stuffed in the end might also make for a formidable defensive weapon out on the trail.... Just a thought...)

Getting late, so I'll wrap this one up...

As always, by the feeders...

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, here it is -- the monopod I mentioned last time, all spruced up and almost ready for action...

True, there is still suff to be done:

• the top black swivel/tilt mechanism has to be epoxied and pinned cross-grain into place
• the handhold in the staff itself has to be fitted for Mrs. CCA's grip
• a dash of accoutrement (like woven leather or cord handle) should be installed
• the pointy dirt jabber has to be installed at the earthy end of the stick
• it's going to need a few coats of a varnish
• the wife mentioned a lanyard... we'll see

And that's about it -- as easy as a project can get.... If you think any of the steps described here are 'uncharted water', no problem... Just post a comment and I can walk you through...

By those Shaker feeders...

CapeCodAlan

P.S. FYI... Here's an epoxy link every backyard enthusiast should have: http://www.systemthree.com/reslibrary/m_published-literature.asp

P.P.S. We still ain't seen no stinking hummingbirds!

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

First of all, take a look at our new hummingbird feeder relative to the eBirdseed.com streaming cam... Little better ay? (Will look better still when I get around to cleaning the window...)

Now... about making that monopod... In general, a monopod is really just a tripod with one leg. It also makes for a dandy walking stick... (See photo below...)

What project would be complete without one of my hideous, out of scale drawings...

Monopods are very popular with birders for obvious reasons... What follows then, is a rough outline for making such a beast and then a few pics showing the build process so far...

1. Rip a 2 X 4 square such that it's 1.5" X 1.5" and about 5' high... (This will be shortened to fit Mrs. CCA)
2. Round the stick to a 1.5" in dia.
3. Find a way to attach a standard tripod camera attitude mechanism (up/down, left/right,tilt) to the top of the stick cutting the height appropriately
4. Bore a 3/16" hole in the bottom end of the 'pod and screw in a 1/4" X 1" bolt along with a dash of syringe epoxy... Be sure to leave about 1/4" of the bolt shaft sticking out
5. After the epoxy dries, cut the bolt head off and grind the remaining stub to a point -- this will be the pointy end that sticks into the ground
6. To mount the camera attitude mechanism, cut the top assembly off a cheap tripod keeping about 1.25" of the height adjustment shaft... (See photo below)
7. Bore a hole into the top end of the stick just big enough to hold the shortened height adjustment shaft and and some epoxy
8. Next-to last-step: Make a handle up by the non-pointy end out of appropriately placed old boot leathers secured with epoxy and a herringbone stitch or a series of Turk's head knots
9. Finally, just slather on three coats of varnish and call her done -- a great walking stick/monopod ready for action

Soon to be sacrificed tripod...

Square stick as it came off the saw...

'Pod blank readied for rounding...

And that's all for today...

By those hectic feeders...

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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.

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

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

Back in the day of actual film, it used to be that photos had value... But now, with digital cameras, we (or at least I) just pound out the pics to our hearts' content, dump them on the computer and go out for more. Look at the Jay below...

Not bad, right? There's a little action in the blurry foot, there's plenty of sharp detail, it's a great close up... With a little attention, this isn't a bad shot at all... In the old days, I would have had this printed, and taken it to show off to my co-workers at the office. But in fact, was was probably just one of almost 600 taken by our now defunct NovaBird automatic camera in a single-day shoot back in 2007. Truth be told, I probably looked at it for one second on the initial review of the pictures (593 shots equates to 593 seconds which equates to almost 10 minutes just in the first pass). Later, I probably gave it another few seconds in my second perusal of probably 300 survivors (15 minutes). And finally, I winnowed it down to a handful. But the point is that I've only spent perhaps ten seconds looking at that photograph before I choose something else, and 'Poof!" it was gone from memory.

We're entering a strange time in history... In the "Digital Age" there is such a preponderance of stuff out there that it almost becomes moot, lost, meaningless... Yet, at the same time, so much of it still is out there... Just ask Representative Anthony Weiner...

So here I sit with over 10,000 bird photos... To give each just one minute of attention, that would take 167 hrs or seven days of 24 hr non-stop focus. At the rate I'm going, that number could swell by a factor of five or even ten times. And I got into the game late... Today, the average teenager has access to digital imagery if by no other means than the cell phone... Think about what that means for the way we as individuals and a culture process special moments and special memories...

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ah yes... me and a camera... Kind of goes together like sardines and chocolate milk... But I read a great piece by Ken Billington, "Why Not Use RAW Format In Your Photography?" (If Mr. Billington ever took a look at my image portfolio, he'd probably ask "Why Not Use RAW Crayons In Your Photography?" I digress...) So I read the article and took a shot at RAW... Interesting...

There most definitely is a difference between RAW and the default automatic mode. RAW pretty much takes the image of the lens and stuffs it into the SD card as a CR2 (Canon Raw version 2) file. On the other hand, the default uses the camera processor to "massage" and "compress" the pic into a jpg...

Here is the jpg shot using the automatic default...

And here it is after suffering the raw-to-jpg conversion and some shape creation just to be sure I could edit the thing...

As you bounce back and forth between the images, something changes, but you've got me beat as to what...

As Mr. Billington's article points out, RAW ain't for everybody... The files are three to five times the size of jpgs, and they don't play well with normal graphical editing software -- I had to resort to both Canon and FastStone apps. But still, if you want the bare-naked thing your camera sees, and want to be able to tweak it time after time... RAW has promise.

Fussing by the feeders

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 12:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

About the turkey photo below... As I've mentioned before, sometimes it really is fun just to wander through old pictures and wonder...

I wonder how many of the adult turkeys we have now are related to these from two and a half years ago? Do I have any old photographs of these as poults? When will we be seeing the new offspring? Wouldn't it be cool if we could have a family tree of the birds who visit our backyards over the years? The questions go on and on...

Now, about that simple recipe... It's a crock pot jobber, and really couldn't be simpler (or much better!)

• Six to eight sweet Italian sausage links
• One medium-sized white onion
• One 24 oz jar of your favorite non-meat spaghetti sauce
• One can of mushrooms (your choice on size)

1. Clean kitchen and sink... Thoroughly wash hands
2. Slice and lightly saute onion
3. Place sausage in pot
4. Dump spaghetti sauce in crock pot
5. Drain 'shrooms and toss into the crock meister
6. Add onions
7. Mix
8. Heat on low for two to three hours or until the internal temp of the snausage links is 180F mixing now and then

See you by those tasty feeders,

CapeCodAlan

P.S. To really make the meal pop, serve with a soft bulkie roll on the side...

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, here we go... I'm taking on yet one more stupid project that I don't rate - I'm going to try to create a stop-motion video of an Amaryllis coming to bloom. (FWIW, CCA's definition of "stop-motion video" is the collection and splicing together of individual, still photographs of slowly-changing behavior for the purpose of creating a sort of continuous, real-time, high-speed movie of said changes. Think "Gumby" and claymation.) Anywho, here's the poor flora subject:

Already, I've vastly under-guesstimated the growth rate of these elegant stinkin' weeds, and have been forced to move the camera at least twice - a serious 'no-no' in the stop-motion community. So sue me. Also, I've changed my mind concerning the frequency of the still shots. What started out as timed four hour photographs has morphed into a mantra of, "Whenever I dang well get around to it..." (Why is it that I get the feeling that Ray Harryhausen isn't exactly trembling in his boots right now?) The end result will probably be that of an on-again/off-again apparent growth pattern... Don't take it too seriously. At least it will be pretty.

See you by those impatient feeders...

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 1:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Man, have we got a lot to cover... Let's get cracking!

I guess I can group the first two subjects as one: birds and our latest Cape Cod storm... As you can probably tell just by their demeanor, the birds were none too keen on our surprise storm...

Alrighty then... Do you remember just a few days ago, I thought (that is, trusted the weather forecasters) that this storm was going to swing out to sea... Not so much. Truth be told, we got about four to six inches of the wet, heavy muck and suffered four brownouts. Oh goody...

On a much more cheerful note, our new cam (below) arrived... Meet the Logitech Webcam Pro 9000. As the photo shows, it looks to be your standard webcam... I'll have to play some games to get it streaming live (not to mention the watertight, heated/vented housing), but all looks doable. Stay tuned for updates.

Now, about our word search contest... It's been brought to my attention by more folks than I care to think about, that people are simply reluctant to enter any contest for fear of being spammed, junk mailed, or pestered at home... Fair enough. About a year ago, the wife and I donated to a political party and have been hounded ever since. I really don't know how to speak to this issue except to offer the following company statement:

This Web site does not utilize cookies which request any personal information or collect any information that personally identifies you or allows you to be personally contacted. The only cookies used simply aid the checkout process. The only personal information gathered is your shipping and billing information which is not stored unless you create an account. We do not share any personal information with any third parties.

Finally, with your security and sanity in mind, let me informally offer this simple word of advice when it comes to buying a gift to the "un-giftable". Just buy an eBirdseed.com gift certificate. (And no, the boss didn't put me up to this - this is from the heart.) Just buy a gift certificate. Feeding the birds is a good thing and you won't have to fight the mall.

There! I'm done for now...

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 8:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

• Camera: Canon Eos Digital, 10.08MP, mounted on a standard tripod, and triggered by a wired remote shutter button (Canon RS60-E3)
• Lens: Canon Zoom EF-S, 55-250mm, 1:4-5.6 IS, with stabilizer turned on
• Distance from lens to feeder: Apx. 20 - 25 feet

Well, the results are obvious and absolutely surprising (for me anyway...) By far and away, the best Eos dial settings were the "Portrait" and "Night Portrait". Those two presets just made the colors come alive. (BTW... In low-light conditions {very late dusk} all other camera modes failed miserably without flash. We're talking blackish-gray...) I believe there is a caveat here though - the portrait modes leave the shutter open for a second or more... probably taking the time to soak up light. I'd guess that without a tripod, for this kind of shooting "Portrait" would be useless... But that's just a guess.

The sad thing is that I don't even know if I'm creating a major photographic goof by telling you this stuff. Perhaps my results are an anomaly - a function of my particular conditions and hardware. Probably the best I can do is suggest that you test for yourself. Be sure to get your cam on a stable platform, use a remote triggering device if at all possible, and make your experiments uniform. All I know, is that for the immediate future, we'll be taking portraits like the one below...

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

We need to talk about that contest...

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yeah, the lawn needs work, the garden is small, we've got a scrap birdhouse (occupied by a downy) and we're growing flowers in a rusty old BBQ grill. Still, there's a peace there. In fact, there's almost a Shaker echo to the place. My guess is that Thoreau would approve - just stark enough to enjoy "close to the bone", but still "where life is sweetest."

There's an interesting story behind the photograph above... By the time I had a chance to take the snapshot, by all rights it was too late in the day. In fact, there was so little light left before dusk proper that I didn't even bother with the tripod. My reasoning was that at least I could take some sample pics to find the best angles, and then come back when the luminous energy was a tad more cooperative. And that's exactly what I did. Figuring I had nothing to loose, I fussed with the various camera settings and pretty much ended up with the expected - dark blurry mush, but with one exception. On a lark, I set the camera to "Sports" mode, braced myself, drew my breath, and pushed the button. I heard the standard shutter open, but not close for a good two seconds. This seemed totally counter intuitive in that by my way of diminished thinking, a high shutter speed would equate to a high shutter speed. Anywho, the end result is what you see - a pretty respectable image taken under dim conditions. Now you shutter bugs out there can scoff, and rightfully sneer that I just don't understand aperture, ISO, and the Tao of the Canon. So be it.

Maybe the takeaway is that this is a bit of heaven, and it takes a bit of serendipity to capture it...

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 1:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Well, Mrs. CCA was busy with the Canon yesterday... Let's see what she got... First, there's a molting goldfinch...

Next, a fine chickadee...

Here's a downy along with a chickadee...

How about a red-breasted nuthatch?

Lastly, there is the red-breast flying away... (It's sort of a "Nude Descending a Staircase" thing.)

It really is a simple and quick hobby. I literally took the following two photographs while I was on the phone...

In a way, it's kind of sad that I feel the need to mention the "brevity" aspect of the birding hobby, but it is what it is. We've become such a "time-strapped" culture that we measure events in 15 minute breaks away from "the cube", and manage our moments via "multitasking"... Deep sigh...

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 8:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

From our "For What it's Worth Department", below is a shot of what we'd consider a respectable backyard birding photography kit. (Truth be told, the tally of capturing "that special bird" runs from the cost of a box of crayons to tens of thousands of dollars and beyond. But we think this sort of rig strikes a reasonable middle ground at around $1,000 and will stretch the artistic capabilities of most of us...)

So what are we looking at here? Well...

• Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT: We have the 10.2 MP unit - a fine investment.
• Two lenses... An 18-55mm, and a 55-250mm: For the moment, these will do nicely. (Down the road, we're hankering for one of those big honking units you see on the sidelines in Monday Night Football. It could happen...)
• A remote shutter release and tripod: IMHO, those are "must haves". Say what you will about lens stabilizers and tripods, but the ability to bedrock the camera, step back, and remotely trigger the device without nary a tremble is the only way to go.
• Compact Pentax 12x24 binoculars: We like these for their exceptional clarity and ruggedness. (I ran over them once with a truck and they still perform beautifully...) Nowadays, the Bushnell Powerview 8x21 look to be a good value at sub $20.
• Spare SD card and battery for the camera: Ahhh... Nothing like running out or resources when that pterodactyl appears...

And that's about it - a lifetime of quality enjoyment for the cost of a dinner for four, parking, and a quartet of decent seats at a MLB game.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 6:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Ah yes... Nothing like crows and cams!

Take a look as a crow grapples with a tangle of old crackers...

Which way to go?

Getting ready to fly...

Oops...

l(a

cr
ac
ke

r
fa

ll

s) one l

iness

(apologies to e.e. cummings...)

Once again, this series of pics was taken using the "Sports" setting of the EOS... I simply set the camera up on a tripod, adjusted the focus, plugged in the remote shutter, and then let fire in the "Full Auto" or "Burst" mode. I really like this camera and would highly recommend it.

And speaking of cameras... Our little eBirdseed.com streaming bird cam has done yeoman's work for at least a year now, but maybe it's time to think of something new... Something better. Here are the goals for the proposed video:

• Have a camera that continues to stream live 24/7
• Introduce a system that doesn't foul up the existing network
• Is of higher quality than the current setup
• Is portable with a range of 100 feet or so
• It should be able to withstand the worst weather
• Avoid if at all possible exposed cables
• Use solar power as part of its energy source

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

I shot this on a whim with little more than a few minutes to spare. Frankly, it was one of those times when I was doing four other things, and thought that I'd just toss out the tripod and camera and see what happened. I waited just a bit, and took the photo. (Didn't even see the yellow jacket.)

I keep stressing the informality and simplicity of backyard birding for a very good reason - these are not easy times, and most of us don't have beaucoup minutes to spare. In the case of the picture above, I had a max of a quarter of an hour, and I was done in just two-thirds of that. Will the image have "The National Geographic" kicking in my door? No. But it was a subtle pause in a rat race where the rats all too often seem to be winning. (For what it's worth, I'll remember that moment with the hummingbird and the yellow jacket. Maybe I'm just hokey... At least I'm not a green frog...)

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 12:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In fact, their preference is for the feeders, as the nectar is more reliable there. But the hummers seem to be somewhat fastidious in their eating habits and don't like ants crawling on the sugar water founts when they are dining. So I let the feeders get a bit ant-covered to, ah, encourage the birds to visit their secondary food source. And guess what? It worked.

So while I didn't have to jump ugly and pull a "Barry Bonds" to swat a few hummers into the garden, I still had to use sneaky tactics to get them there. Oh well.

Setting aside the hummingbirds, at long last (four days) the heat is beginning to ease just a bit here on Cape Cod. Tonight, it dropped below 70 F, which is pretty much heaven. At last check, the crows have stopped panting. Come on rain!

Lastly, it looks like we're finally going to replace our late Canon Rebel XT. That camera had a "salt-water moment", and that was all she wrote. Stay tuned. By tomorrow I might yet again be able to make the late Ansel Adams spin in his grave.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 5:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

First, here's a video...

Now... Thoughts...

• Right off the bat, I'm reminded as to why I don't like digital zoom. Please forgive my blurriness...
• Secondly, note the way the seed gets scattered... That may not be a terrible thing. The ground feeders have always been happy.
• As you watch the video, you'll see the squirrel scale the very recently "Tony Chachere's-doused 4 X 4"... That speaks to a question raised by faithful reader Harry "Gipper" Morris (and I paraphrase...) "Is it true that hot pepper 'turns off' squirrels, but not birds?" Hmmm... Well, my over-priced $.02 says that it might work if hot pepper doesn't get in the way of an "urgent squirrel mission". That is, if the creatures are truly hungry/cold, they'll probably whir through whatever gets in their way short of steel... But here on Cape Cod, our approach is different... Why not just set up a feeder for the squirrels? They eat cheap seed, are fun to watch, and sadly, offer "feed" for predators. We really don't have a problem with squirrels.
• Towards the end of the video, watch the way the birds fly upwards - stunning.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 1:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Well, it looks like the "Old Faithful" NovaBird motion-activated camera is now walking the "The Streets of Glory". Take a look at the shot below...

No, that isn't PhotoShopped... That is as it came off the NovaBird. I checked the memory card on another cam, and that was working fine... So that really only leaves one other device - the NB itself. I'll tinker with it and see what I can do, but photographs like that one don't bode well. I really can't complain after 10,000+ images. But it seems fitting that one of the last valid pics off Nova' was certainly one of the most compelling...

Just a grackle with a bunch of seeds, right? Nope... Not even close. Look at how the seeds are arranged... Nice and neat for max storage in the beak. That is significant. The only other bird I've seen that practices that kind of efficiency is the crow. (Remember that post I wrote on Crows and the efficient storage of french fries in the beak???) Consider the following from WikiPedia:

"Unlike many birds, the Grackle benefits from the expansion of human populations due to its resourceful and opportunistic nature. Unfortunately, this has caused its population to increase in some cities where the animal is not always welcome. The common grackle population has greatly increased in the Austin, Texas, area in recent years and is regarded as nuisance by some, due to aggressive behavior. These birds are known to remember human faces, holding a grudge and harassing specific persons who have annoyed them in the past, or following an individual who has fed them over considerable distance to beg for scraps of food."

Now think back to the post on Crow intelligence... Since I wrote that, I've looked into "Crow Smarts" a bit more, and found that they too can remember faces. Hmmm...

Finally, here's an interesting take on the Gulf situation by Pulitzer prize winning author and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer... IMHO, there's much more than a grain of truth there.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 12:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

First off, respect and thanks go out to all veterans! A tip of the hat to the mottos and core values...

(I wrote a piece on Memorial Day here.)

Back to less noble things... Well, the news is in about the Gulf, and it ain't good... BP's estimate of the leak was 5,000 barrels of oil/day. Now the USGS is putting the estimate at between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels/day. That equates to somewhere between 500,000 gal/day (for a total of 18 million gal) and 800,000 gal/day (for a total of 30 million gal). Compare those numbers with the 11 million gal from the Exxon Valdez and the blood runs cold. To make matters even worse, we don't know exactly what the dispersants are doing and the effects of introducing them at such depths. Who knows where that mess is going to show up? Lastly, we find out that the dispersant itself (all 700,000+ gallons of the stuff) is toxic to humans. Once this toxic cocktail gets into swamps and wetlands... look out. I did manage to find another source (Department of the Interior) that you can try if you want to help:

• Volunteer: 1-866-448-5816.
• Report oiled wildlife: 1-866-557-1401. Messages checked hourly.
• Report oiled shoreline: 1-866-448-5816
• Report spill related damage: 1-800-440-0858.
• Submit alternative response technology, services or products: 1-281-366-5511 or horizonsupport@oegllc.com
• Submit your vessel as a vessel of opportunity skimming system: 1-281-366-5511
• File a claim for damage.

Onward... Well, the wife saw our first fisher cat a couple of days ago...

She'll write a post on that later.

Next! More woodworking for the backyard birder... So far we've got:

• Books
• Workshop Layout
• Philosophy, Safety, Plumb, Level, and Square
• Tools
• Glue
• More on Glue

Alright then... It's almost time to make sawdust! This lesson is easy. Go to your local lumberyard, put on some gloves, and buy a bunch of cheap strapping (a.k.a. "1x3") and whatever bargain bin stuff you can find. And don't be afraid to ask the yard man if they have free scrap wood. Now take it home, break out a flashlight and study it. Study its end and face grains and note how the pieces warp, curve, cup, split. See if you can find a pattern. How were the boards cut at the sawmill? Refer to your books or to here. So much of your success working with wood is going to hinge on understanding how it moves...

'Til next time, see you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

P.S. The old NovaBird motion-activated camera is "circling the drain". After three years and 10,000+ pics, the little trooper is starting to fail big time. More on that next time.

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

Funny the things that a person overlooks... Check out the shot below...

I didn't even know I had it. At this point, we have well over 4,000 photographs (and the total number may well be twice that), so I guess that's understandable. But beyond that, there's the lost moment... The lost specialness... I remember the first time I saw turkeys... I was coming home from college, and there were a few beside the highway. That was a big deal for me, but I don't remember the first time I saw them in our yard. Earlier, I remember my first encounters with red-winged blackbirds, but I don't remember the first time I saw them in our yard either.

I guess my point is that special things get lost - get forgotten. Maybe we can chock some of that up to experience. (Note that word "experience".) Maybe we all suffer from a sensory overload and desensitization in this extraordinarily technical, violent, and convoluted world... After all, we live in a time when home computers routinely have a terabyte of storage... The violence reported in the news, in computer games, and in the movies is just stunning... And politics and the economy are driving us crazy from every angle... Perhaps it's all just too much to process. Is it possible that the special and quiet have fallen victim to the glaring and loud?

Anyhoo...

There's a turkey picture completely new to both of us...

Deep sigh,

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Looks like we have yet another camera. This time, it's the Kodak C190 that will suffer the slings and arrows. Let's see... Here's the stuff as it comes out of the box...

Basically, the contents were:

• The camera itself
• Battery charger
• Batteries
• The box showing the C190
• Instructions for the camera and charger
• Soft case
• Strap
• Warranty stuff
• USB cable
• Kodak software

As with many of today's small cameras, it excels using the macro setting...

That's a closeup of a Canadian dime. (It's amazing what 12 MP will do for you.)

As for the more common birding-type photography, my first impression is that a tripod is almost a requirement. Here's a shot of a mourning dove we got using the max 5X optical zoom...

That was taken from about 25' using a tripod. We tried freehand, but the results were poor.

Other gizmos/features include "Smart Capture" (intelligent picture taking), face detection, flash control (nice), and video.

All told, this rig is about what you'd expect out of a $95 deal nowadays. The only downside we can see at this moment is the hinge for the trap door that holds the batteries and the SD RAM card (not included). Let's just say that that hinge doesn't exude robustness. Time will tell...

I doubt that you'll be able to use the C190 to become the next Ansel Adams, but so far it's doing just fine.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 9:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

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...

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.

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...

and...

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

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Oh, you're going to love this one - determining bird size from a photograph. For the backyard birder, this is pretty easy as long as you have a known reference. (Though for a nature birdwatcher, I'd imagine the task is a bit more formidable.) Alrighty then... Where to begin? Well, how about at the beginning Beguine? Here's the pic and we want to know the length of the crow...

(Before we get to truly rocking and rolling, be forewarned that I'm using a digital microscope and a digital caliper, so if the following photograph strikes you as odd, that's OK. I'm just trying to introduce as much accuracy into the process as possible. There's no reason why you can't use a magnifying glass and a decent rule to perform the same steps...)

And away we go!

1. Right off the bat, we're going to have to relate the unknown length of the beastie to a known length in the image. Well, it just so happens that I built that crow feeding tray and know that the rail that goes around the top is .75" tall. So now we have a reference.
2. Next, I used the microscope and found the length of the bird in the picture.

   

   Hmmm... Looks to be about 31 mm

3. I repeated the step above and found that the .75" rail was about 1.4 mm
4. So what is the ratio of the image railing to the real railing? It's about 13.25.
5. Onward! To get the real length of the creature, we'll have to multiply the picture length of 31 mm by 13.25 and that gives us 410 mm, or about 16.125". That sounds right and looks right. Granted, the bird might be crouching or the snapshot angle may not be at a true 90 degrees... But close enough.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Well, it's been a heck of a year for cameras around here... It took forever to get our streaming bird cam up and stable, but she's finally running like a dream now. (Oh! Dag nab it! I forgot to mention that some time ago Mrs. CCA spotted the classic owl claw marks in the snow which means that if anyone was watching our cam that night (we call it Backyard Night Fishing or BNF), they probably would have seen the ghostly sweep of an owl snatching up some poor mouse.) Anywho... (Where was I?) Uhhh... Yeah... We were talking about a tough year for cameras... Let's see... The Canon Eos took an unexpected salt-water bath and is now walking the streets of glory. Then the Olympus 2100 finally turned turtle after a decade and thousands of images. And lastly, the diminutive Vivitar morphed into a paperweight... But not to fret... We still have a scanner and those pesky plate reprints from the 1916 "Birds of New York". Check out this Coopers Hawk piece...

Not bad... But how about if we use our microscope to take a good look at the hawks head? (Fascinating to look at the print technology of 1916 up close.)

And who actually drew the original plates? Why it's none other than Louis Agassiz Fuertes (1874-1927)...

But there's also nothing like the real thing...

So let the cameras knuckle under... We'll get by just fine! (Besides, we still have the Novabird remote camera, the flip video, the cell phone camera, and two video cameras...) Yup... Plenty of lens mauling yet.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 12:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Well, as I mentioned last time, I discovered a forgotten shared network folder that was loaded chock-a-block full with photos. Here are three more. The first is of our homemade trellis wrapped in Christmas lights and snow.

In retrospect, that project worked out quite well. Better yet, it has aged well and stayed plumb and level. The best advice I can offer for such a project is to take your time in the design phase, and then break out the bubble level and plumb bob for the build.

The next shot was obviously taken at night. For some reason I like this. (The backyard birding hobby is cool in that you can take a photograph that you like that may in fact be junk - no harm, no foul. On the other hand, if your pastime is amateur aircraft construction and you aren't very good... well, at least you won't be around to hear the criticism.) Anywho, I like the pic...

The last image is obviously of a downy. (I've got a bunch of 'em.)

Yeah, I know, you've seen a gazillion downys on this site. Well here's another one. If you don't like it... tough. Now turn off your TV and eat your lima beans and liver. (We in the business call this "tough bird love". )

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 7:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just never can tell what you'll find when you tune in here aye? Check out the photo below...

So what in the name of Sam Hill is that, and what does it have to do with birds??? The picture above is that of my arm, shot by our new "Web cam to be". ( Not to worry, I'll get that rascal streaming yet!) As for the arm, why is that important and what does it have to do with IV needles? Here's the deal. One of my closest friends has serious health issues, and frequently has to go through a barrage of blood tests. While that is plenty uncomfortable under the best of circumstances, my friend's veins aren't exactly the most pronounced. Bluntly put, the nurses often have to go "jabbing" to find the vein - a dozen times isn't uncommon... Yeah...

So anyway... (Uncurl the toes...) Why not take something as simple as a little bird cam with infrared capability (like ours) and use it to illustrate the warm blood in the veins in a dimly lit room? The arm could be strapped down, the veins "mapped" using a non-toxic "Magic Marker" on the surface of the skin, and the blood could be drawn without jabbing.

Ok then... That's enough for this post!

See you by the feeders and I'll have my arms folded,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This entry (and the one before), focuses on setting up a streaming bird cam. (It turns out that bird cams are pretty common, so I don't feel too guilty about dwelling on this sort of thing.)

The "Big Picture" is that we want to take our wee "Hawk Eye" video "thing a ma bob" (below) and get it to talk via a digital converter with the computer. Down the road, we can tackle the Internet, but right now the goal is just to get the camera talking with the PC.

Unfortunately, this camera setup is cleaning my (our) clock(s). There ain't no way that this vid rig is going to play nice with our kitchen machine, and even one of our more stalwart Dell computers is struggling. We can get the drivers and the video software to install, but images on the PC are animated greenish-whitish junk. From our "What It's Worth Department", here's what we've done so far:

• Tried basic install on the AMD kitchen computer - not gonna happen.
• Checked the camera on the TV - all cool.
• Installed the system on a very proven platform. At least that went OK.
• Tested the software, and all systems are go from there.

So what's left? Either we've missed something, or the digital converter has gone MIA..Oh goody...

This is the umpteenth cam I've set up, and if anyone tells you it's an "A B C" process... Ummm... Errr...

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I just wanted to give you a quick update on what's been happening with some of your comments and address those I just discovered. If you haven't seen your comments being posted in the most timely of fashions, don't lose heart - there's a reason for this. When a reader submits a comment (and we do love your comments by the way!), I am notified by email that I should read and if appropriate, approve that comment. Naturally, I check my email several times a day every day just so that I can quickly address your thoughts. But here's where the going gets fun. Like all commercial (and private) email systems, we do occasionally get spam, and like all commercial systems, we use software to try to filter that out. And somewhere between our spam filter, the email system, and human error (probably mine), a few comments have slipped past. Sooo...

As best as I can tell, there were two old comments (9 days) that I want to address right here, and right now, and hopefully bring us all up to speed.

One reader pointed out that I'd messed up the math on the "Designing a Better System for Crow Pics and Vids" entry. Right on Harry "Gipper" Morris! The pic below shows the proper dimensions and angles needed to mount one camera 15" away from the center of the feeder and the other 40" away on a single support mounted to the base of the 48.5" feeder post.:

It's interesting to note that while I wrote the incorrect angle between the base of the feeder post and the support (I wrote 35 degrees when in fact it was as Gipper correctly pointed out around 17.2 degrees) I still got the length of the support correct to 1/100th of an inch. (84" - 4" for the camera mount.) Unfortunately that's what I get for doing exactly what I used to admonish my students for doing - scribbling and trying to play the "number shortcut in my head game". Thanks again Harry! And yes Harry, it would be great to hear of your adjustable system, though I think you might be right - the whole shebang might just scare the birds away.

Next comment... Gipper mentions his F-120 camera not having a remote control option. True enough. But there are five ways to go:

• Some folks literally hack into the hardware of the camera and make their own remote. There's quite a bit of info concerning this on the Web. Personally I wouldn't do it for fear of destroying the camera, but I know others have done it.
• Some people hack disposable cameras as above.
• If you check out the model rocketry and RC plane sites, there are a bunch of remote cameras.
• You can build a little platform and jury rig a mechanical shutter "finger" using an RC control and servo motor. I did this for a kite camera and it worked well.
• And then there are the more conventional cameras with the remote feature built in.

(In my best Strother Martin voice) We'll be commun'catin' by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 2:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

In keeping with trying new and unusual photography and video, I shot the following by packing our Flip Video Mino in an old waterproof "IkeLite" camera housing and sticking it out in the remnants of tropical storm Danny. The streaks you see and the sounds you hear are the raindrops actually hitting the case...

It was an interesting experiment, and the camera shifted in the case (see below with the back off), but all was secure and completely watertight.

And of course, the next photograph shows the empty IkeLite...

Granted I had to shim the rig for level, and bungee the beast to the deck for fear of the wind, but all seemed to go exceptionally well.

(Funny story about that acrylic camera case... I got that over 30 years ago. I was 13, and my buddy Richard and I had discovered snorkling. I wanted an underwater camera in the worst way, but couldn't afford a new one. However, I did have an old Kodak X-35 and could swing a used housing from the local dive shop that was six miles away. So in exuberance that infects only young teenagers, my buddy and I walked the trek twice to get the Ikelite. (The manager wasn't there the first time.) So that little plastic gem above cost me $15 and 24 miles... Ahhh youth...)

As for future unusual photog - stay tuned. For some time now I've been wanting to get some shots of birds under water. To that end, the wife has been looking for a large glass bowl that we can partially fill with rocks and waters as a sort of a birdbath. I figure I'll leave a path for the lens up through the bottom of the bowl. Like I said, stay tuned.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 9:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Trying some new stuff here at eBirdseed.com... We're going to start playing with cameras in new and unique ways. I'm not sure exactly what we're going to do, but it should be interesting. (Read that, "I'll find yet more ways to insult the Lens Gods.") Subjects that have been mulled include radio-controlled macro shots (for those nice closeup, blurry pics); 3D images (we could provide those cool 1950's paper 3D glasses); underwater photographs of ducks feet (or anything else that moves); a stunt squirrel cam; or maybe even a rocket cam for inspecting nesting areas. But for the moment, I thought it might be cool to simply look at birds from the ground level, and see the goings on "from the 'hood" if you know what I mean...

Here we've got a blue jay taking some bread. Kinda cool. It's very fast, but you can always replay.

Gotta love an inquisitive mourning dove! I know this guy is common... But still, it's a pretty creature.

And then there are a couple more doves standing pretty for the camera...

And finally, there's "Doves vs. Don the Squirrel". (Or is that Donna?) Guess who wins?

Simple fun stuff really. I just snugged a tired woodworking spring clamp horizontally to the base of our diminutive Mino video camera and stuck it out in the weeds out on the lawn and let her rip.

Stay tuned...

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 2:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For some time now, we've been trying to find a reliable way to both remotely photograph, and video record our crow tray with limited results. Oh, we've had our moments, but still, there has to be a better way. (It almost seems as if the tripod/cams rig scares away as many birds as it photographs.)

So, here's the deal... I'm starting to think about maybe building a single, canted, permanent camera support board that will be attached to the base of the crow tray. Since the focal lengths of the cameras differ (the NovaBird is 15", and the Flip Video is at least a meter), I'll have to arrange the board such that the NovaBird's lens will be at the bird's eye level, and the Flip Video will be shooting down; and both will have to be at the right focal length. Confusing? Just think of the Leaning Tower of Pisa rammed into the base of the crow feeder such that both cameras will be happy.

Alrighty then... What have we got to deal with? Well, this...

Here's what I'm thinking of. (And yes, I know the difference between the leg and the hypotenuse of a right triangle!)

Hopefully, this is the math that will all make it work... (I heard that groan... Don't make me come over there!)

Bottom line? I now know the scale I'm dealing with, and can easily make such a contraption, but I'm not sure I want it. (Ah, the crude beauty of pen and paper.)

We'll be thinking by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

P.S. BTW... I used the "Law of Cosines" for much of the number crunching on this one.)

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Thought you might enjoy this cardinal on a bird bath... Kinda cool.

As for the informal "movin' pictures" camera review... After our old "Flip Video" took a swim, we had to replace it, so we stepped up to the "USB Flip Video Mino". Let's see...

• The Mino is about the size of what you'd get if you put a deck of playing cards on a diet.
• It weighs 3.3 oz.
• The little guy packs apx. one hour of 640 x 480 digital video in 2 GB. To view that magic on the machine itself, you can use the 1.5" diag. LCD view. Not bad.
• The f/2.4 aperture zooms and offers up a very respectable MPEG-4-AVI.
• Focus ranges from one meter to infinity
• Internal lithium ion batteries keep the critter alive for four hours, and recharge via a USB 2.0 port in three hours.
• I haven't used the "TV Out" NTSC, but I imagine it should work well.
• The mic seems far more responsive to higher frequencies (like birds) than lower frequencies (like TV).
• The Flip Video site suggests that the minimum PC requirements are a 2 GHz processor with 1 GB of RAM. Given the slow speed of the Flip Video software as it creates a movie, this is understandable. (To be honest this software leaves a lot to be desired.)
• The actual sequence (that we use) for making a YouTube movie consists of the following:
  1. Use the Flip Vid software to create a movie on the local hard drive (raw AVI to WMV). Patience is a good thing.
  2. Use Windows MovieMaker to edit and then upload the WMV.
  3. Note the Youtube address of your new movie and distribute appropriately.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Hot one here today on Cape Cod... The temp got up to about 95. Nothing that a little shade and dark rooms couldn't fix. (Though the computer room runs a few degrees above that, so in there it was no doubt nudging 90.) Oh well... The forecasters are predicting that the temp will drop tomorrow back down into the 80s. With a bit of luck, we'll get a good storm to clear out this sticky mess, and that will be the end of Summer. (I heard that! Here on this peninsula, there is no season like Fall. The air is fresh, the red leaves rustle, the sleep is deep and cool... Now we're talking*.)

Anywho, I just set up the NovaBird remote camera in hopes of capturing a crow or two coming in for a late night snack.

Looks like zipoid for luck. (I always worry about setting up the camera for fear of disturbing the birds. Better that you the reader get my usual crud photo than I disturb an animal who's just trying to get a bite before going to sleep.)

Yup... The proof of the pudding is in the eating... Here's a fine picture of old bread sans bird. No doubt that the crows will be all over this when I bring in the camera. I wonder if those creatures can laugh?

And so it goes. Something will get the bread ASAP. And that's fine... I just wish I could have gotten a picture. (Stoopid crows!)

And on that happy note... See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

* Remind me to tell you about the greatest formula for grilled burgers and corn on the cob some time. They're ideal for this time of year, and they're bound to drive your cardiologist into the upper atmosphere. No really, they're that good! (And that's not to mention our 100+ year old recipe for "jag", but modified for mud bugs!)

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 5:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A summer Saturday is a great time to watch the backyard birds, especially the clowns we have around here. While the jelly and orange feeder is primarily intended for the orioles (of which we have plenty!), the catbirds also enjoy snacking there, and sometimes seem to think we've provided them with their own private jelly buffet.

Case in point is the youngster below, who spent his time flitting from the top of the trellis to the feeder and back, announcing each short trip with a mewing call. Every time he took a bit from the feeder, he'd call with his mouth full, sounding for all the world like a muffled cat, but he was clearly pleased with his ability to fend for himself.

I could hardly keep from laughing.

We also have a bumper crop of bee balm this year; I'm not sure why. The last few years we've had a few stems which the hummingbirds loved, but this year for some reason, the monarda has grown wild, and we suddenly have several dozen plants in the back garden and the hummers are having a field day with them.

But we're also still filling both feeders on a regular basis, which suggests that the hummingbird population around here is, well, humming right along.

I guess that's about it from the back yard.

See you by those crazy feeders,
Mrs. CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thank all that's right in the world for tonight's rainstorm and a few grumbles of thunder. As long is there's no flooding, and no one gets hurt, there's nothing like a good rain. How I used to enjoy being in a real downpour way back when I was a kid in my little rowboat, or inclement "running the bogs" with my buddy when I was in my teens, or jogging in the stuff just a few years ago... Rain... Ahhh... The stuff of a perfect night's sleep.

Anyway...

With the Canon now "walking the streets of glory" (or "dog paddling the brine of eternity" as it were), we're back to our old Olympus camera. Still, it ain't a bad little beast. We bought it back in the day when the company I used to work for handled the tech support for Olympus cameras. We used to have a policy that anyone could sign out any Olympus camera and take it for a test ride. And if we had problems, we could just wait for the experts to go on break, and ask for help. (Think about that for a minute.) So we ended up with a C-2100 camera because it was both user friendly and had image stabilization. To this day, when it decides to focus on the right object, it takes no prisoners. Here are a couple of day lilies, a crow, and a dove in a bird bath...

And so it goes... More rain... More flowers... More birds... So far, so good.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 12:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Don't get your hopes up too high, but I put out the NovaBird remote, movement-triggered camera just in time for a virtual "bird storm".

Okey dokey, the afternoon has passed and I just brought in the old NovaBird and am looking at the snapshots - all 354 of them. Let's see what we got...

• A bunch of nice grackle photos (love the white iris)
• The cardinals didn't let us down
• There are the usual chickadees

But better yet, we've got perhaps the finest shot of a bird's ear ever. (Well, okay.. maybe it ain't the finest, but should the picture make the rounds, I'd guess a few ornithologists will sit up and take notice! The link to the high res photograph is here. You can also use our library link below and browse to it there.)

Is that not wild or what?!? I've searched the Web, and looked at my books: Sibley, Peterson, and Alsop III... So far, this is the best I've found. That hole behind and below the eye is called the auricular, or outer ear. Normally this is covered with down/feathers. Hopefully, given the time of year, this little fellow is still molting (versus being sick.)

I don't know why that stupid picture above gives me such a kick, but it does. I've made it no secret that I'm not a bird nut... Yeah, I like to look at them, and yeah their songs sound nice. And their flights are acts that human dance will ever approach... But I'm still not about to pop a second mortgage to go to Peru and search for the rare "Ha Cha Cha" bird. Sorry...

Still there's something very rewarding about that picture. (Eat your heart out USGS!) I don't know... Maybe it's just that a well-intentioned though time-challenged amateur can occasionally come up with some pretty fair stuff. Maybe it has to do with these inexpensive results compared to the exorbitant costs of "real birding"... In any event the photograph looks cool beans by my eye.

Very content by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 3:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Once again, another busy day. Set up the Olympus on a tripod on the kitchen counter and went about the usual. And sure enough when I was working on the scullery computer (more about that in a minute) I turned, and there she was, a female ruby throat frozen in time right there 18" away from the lens. I mean we're talking perfect; it was as if the creature was caught in stop action in mid air. Man oh man alive... I focused that camera and... the batteries died. It went lights out. Arghhh!!! All kidding aside, there's a reason why "picture boxes" and I don't get along. In a sentence, they're stupid and digitally malevolent. There I said it. But anywho, here are a couple of nice hummingbird shots that did survive.

And not to be outdone, here's a crow yelling...

So there you go... And don't be too surprised if future illustrations take on that distinct "feel" of that old non-digital camera manufacturer, Crayola. Harrumph! Now, on to more info about our real-time bird cam.

When last we visited our fussy network-based bird cam, all seemed okey dokey. Ah ha! You fell for it just as I did. Well, it turns out that simply unplugging one of the lines coming off the router makes the entire network hold its breath and stamp its little digital feet. (I know, I know, I know... What we did shouldn't have caused the thing to crash, but it did crash... it crashed faster than an old Russian-built jetliner.) Whatever... The web cam is back up, and more popular than ever. Be sure to check it out - the hummers are going nuts over here!

Gotta run... I'll see you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 9:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Please forgive the picture below, but Cape Cod is experiencing a rare Summer Nor'easter (a long, wet, windy storm that blows in from the north east) and birding probably ain't going to be so hot for a couple of days.

Not a problem though - I get to wallow in a few of my favorite pastimes... Insomnia, working, listening to the rain, butchering the fine art of photography. You get the idea.

About the snapshot... I took that at about 4 AM in an attempt to show the storm-scattered red petals on our front landing/ramp. While I somehow miraculously stopped the flashback, steadied the camera, and slowed the exposure (well, ok, the camera did most of those things) I still managed to pick up the reflection of the inside of the living room. Talk about talent. But there are stories there. (I always wanted to drive north to the crown of Maine, towards Caribou, and find one of those dilapidated, abandoned homes and then research the thing. Who was born there? Who died there? Why was the house left to crumble? But I digress...) There are stories in the reflection in the picture above.

• We've got a couple of pieces of exercise equipment. Ugh.
• It's tough to see, but there's a dining room table (safely smothered) that is being used as a temporary model boatbuilding area. I'm a moderator on a couple of boatbuilding forums and I've found that for really tough questions, sometimes a quick model will help.
• The toolbox on the white cabinet is pretty cool. I built that from scrap, and the influences include Japanese, Shaker, luthier works, marine arts,.. In short, it's a hodgepodge held together with 64 hand-cut dovetails. Still, plain and common can be beautiful if you get the lines right and the piece functions well.

Well, the birds are singing and my eyes are crossing... .

See you by those soggy feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 3:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ah... 'tis time for another NovaBird remote camera crapshoot. You can see the setup in the pic below. (The NovaBird is mounted on the tripod.)

As the camera is motion-activated and has a fixed focal length, the quality (or even existence) of photos snapped is a matter of "by gosh and by God". I'm hoping for some decent crow images, but honestly, I have no idea what I'll get. I'll keep you posted as to the success or failure of this mini-adventure as the day goes along.

Other mundane stuff while we wait...

Lots of vitamins and supplements to take:

• A "one daily" vitamin for men
• There's a bunch of fish oil for my heart health... (Gee, does that mean I can keep my salt lick?)
• Can't forget the loperamide hydrochloride... Fussy guts will accept no less.
• Who can forget the glucosamine chondroitin and msm? (This is what happens when you spend your youth as a runner. (You ain't a runner if something as trivial as having your big toenail ripped off stops your run.))

As always, there's real stuff to do... Grrr...

Just checked the Nova'... The birds really don't like it.

Yet more grind...

Intersperse the usual workout... Boring.

I wonder how the camera is doing? The crows seem to be particularly skittish around the tripod...

I might finally make another stab at building a model of Bolger's 1964 "Surfmaster 19" boat. The model build is pretty much a duplicate of the real thing only in the realm of the tiny and fussy. This will be my 5th model. That and four real boat assemblies pushes me squarely into the category of dangerous.

Alrighty then... Let's see how the camera did!... I'll just bring it in,... And take out the memory card... And... D'oh! Double D'oh!

All I got was 17 lousy shots, the best of which was that of a grackle's tail section?!? Stupid crows... Ten minutes after I brought in the NovaBird, all the scraps were gone.

I'll be grumbling by the feeders when I get a chance,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 1:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On such a day as this, it was incumbent upon me to take my kayak out on local waters for a trek from pond to ocean and back, communing with nature, taking photos, and generally having a life.

Having fought the tide and the breeze all the way downstream from Swan Pond to Nantucket Sound, taking photos of the local wildlife (such as branta canadensis, below) as I went, I decided to beach my craft, stretch my legs, and perhaps take a quick swim before my return trip.

Nature may not actually be red in tooth and claw these days, but she sure has a quirky sense of humor. As I was about to beach the kayak, a sudden series of waves gave a not-so-gentle push, the kayak turned turtle, and into the water I went. Unfortunately, also into the water went a Palm Treo cell phone, a hand-held GPS, a very nice Canon DSLR camera, and a small video recorder. All of these were in plastic bags; however not one of the bags was actually sealed. After assessing the damage, trying to dry what I could (not much, as my towel of course was also soaked), I righted the boat, bailed out the small bit of water remaining in the cockpit with one of my Crocs, and headed back upstream, the journey back made easier by the push of the tide and the wind.

Having successfully retrieved from the flash disk the hundred or so photos I took on the trip out, I have some small (very small) hope that the Canon might not be beyond repair. Sadly, the video camera and the cell phone are toast. The GPS, being made for the outdoors, is likely fine.

Maybe I should stick to the backyard feeders.

See you there.

Mrs. CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 11:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hi all,

Sorry about the pic above - it's an old one. It's been raining here on Cape Cod for the last couple of days, and I really wasn't able to get any decent bird shots. Bummer.

And speaking of photos, you might have noticed that our eBirdseed.com bird library (see link below) has been greatly reduced. Not to worry, all the images are still there, we're just trying to find a way to shuffle them around the Net. 'Til I get that straight, it looks like there's a max of 200 (10% of the total library) visible at any given time. That issue should be resolved ASAP.

Now about the photograph above. We've seen a ton of oriole activity lately... so much so that they habitually empty the jelly jar. Somehow, they (or creatures squirrel or crow) have even managed to break the wooden spikes that hold the orange halves to the feeder... Hmmm...

Hope you've been watching our bird cam (again, see link below). The hummers have been going nuts around here. While any time of the day is a good time to check out the camera, it might be wise to tune in towards 7pm. At that point its getting dark and the ruby-throats are going crazy.

What else?

Breaking news! Salads are more healthy for you than my normal fare of pretzels and "Salt-lick de Jour"... Sorry, I'm trying to reign in my eating habits and I figured I'd share the new found wisdom and pain...

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: Inside Birding

Cornell Ornithology Laboratory: All About Birding

eBirdseed.com photo library

eBirdseed and misc. references

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eBirdseed.com bird cam

Posted by CapeCodAlan at 9:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi all,

The pic above is that of our eBirdseed.com bird cam. Obviously, it's focused on one of our hummingbird feeders. (We have yet to see a ruby this Spring.)

But beyond the hummingbirds, I thought I'd mull over the cam itself...

• Right now (if you can see the stat above), we're at roughly 12,000 views. Add to that another 4,000 hits (before I crashed the birdcam in the early days of this project) and we're talking 16,000 people. Granted, some are repeat guests, and no doubt a few of my friends have tuned in... Still, 16k is a large number.
• I might stick an old-time thermometer out beside the hummingbird feeder for a quick temp reading for all... Given that, a passing gaze at the movement of the faux flowers, the light and precipitation involved, and you can get a pretty good idea of the local weather here on Ol' Cape Cod real time.
• At some point, we're going to need to replace the existing camera with something a little better. (The wife votes for a wireless model that I can waterproof and mount right next to the standard feeder - that will be cool in the extreme.) I'll probably have to take into account some sort of ventilation, cleaning, and means for delivering power, but that's all do-able.

Gotta sign off... If anyone should see a ruby throated on Cape (or better yet on our Web cam) please send a comment... Can't wait!

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 3:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hi all,

Thought I'd start this one with a typical kitchen camera setup shot showing the Canon poised for action. Pretty thrilling aye? Kidding aside, there ain't much to it. Stick in a fresh battery and an empty memory card, set it up, cross your fingers, and walk away... Given a decent happenstance, and you got yourself a memory in all it's feathered and binary glory. If you don't have time at home, the same scheme is even more straight forward from the workplace. Find a window that looks out on birds of any flavor, and use your coffee break and cell phone to snap a few shots. (BTW... though virtually impossible to see, there is remote camera trigger in the photograph above, and that's one accessory you should consider for any kind of serious shutterbug hijinks. It eliminates the slight tremor that you dispatch when you directly touch the shutter button thingy on the camera body itself.)

Onward... The photo below was taken by the rig above...

It doesn't exactly rock your world does it? After all, it's just a plain old Mourning dove in all its blurry glory.

But that's the whole point behind "amateur birding" (aka "backyard birding"; "just in time birding"; or "'Do I really have to feed the birds this morning' birding"). The absolute and unfortunate truth is that if you're reading this, things aren't perfect. I can't speak for you, but I can speak for myself and umpteen others. The 401K has been cut by at least 40%; the typical home value is 30% less than what it used to be; and McDonalds french fries ain't a patch to those of days of old.

I apologize... I don't mean to be flippant, but these are hard times. All I know is that an occasional glimpse of a bird gives me just a bit of respite - almost a moment of meditation. And sadly, that may be all we get in our culture for a while...

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As the old Stones' song goes, it's all over now. Check out the video below...

But make no mistake about it... Getting this short flick into a format you could see was a royal pain in the tail feathers. It seems that my new video camera saves files in a slightly less than "plays well with others" format. (Read that: "Video hosting sites like PhotoBucket and Flickr don't completely embrace the files pouring off our new 'movin' pickture masheen.'") But aside from proprietary file formats and gobbling 1/4 MB/second... No prob... We'll be fine. Just brace yourself.

As for the vid above... Is that cool or what?!? A downy woodpecker and a chickadee. If your audio setup is good enough, you can actually hear the chickadee flutter. And that's just a fraction of the total 11 minute piece we filmed. We also had/have great "close ups" of:

• the chickadee
• a titmouse
• house finches
• blue jays
• a nuthatch

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 8:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yeah, it had to happen. I saved my nickels and dimes (literally) and finally bought a video recorder. Hot Dog Gone! We're talking optical incompetence in motion. More about the technical in a minute, but first check out the "Cecil B." work below.

Onward.

OK, so here's some of the "dweeb" camera stuff...

• It's a Flip Video... Popular enough
• As surprising as this sounds, it's only about the size of a deck of cards
• 640 X 480 resolution
• 1 hour of recording time
• 2 GB of memory
• Has 5 hr battery life (AA)
• 30 frames/second (Good enough for smooth video)
• Focal length .8 meters to infinity
• Built in mic
• TV out
• Vids can be uploaded to YouTube
• The only real downside seems to be the requirement for proprietary software.

Quiet on the set... Action... And roll'em by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 1:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

If you're a frequent reader of this blog, you already know that I ain't no Ansel Adams when it comes to cameras. And given the high winds today, I assumed that my pictures would take on an even more-than-usual blurriness. Still, I was intent to get some good closeups of our new bluebird guests using the remote, motion-activated NovaBird camera.

So, out came the NovaBird gear, including the 6' mounting board I clamp to the deck railing to jut the rig into the native 15" - 18" focal length to the feeder. So far, so good. But as always, I struggled to get power to the 'Bird - nothing that a multimeter, half an hour, and a spare extension cord couldn't fix... And there it was... both camera and feeder swaying in the breeze. (Keep in mind that the gadget's automatic shutter snaps every ten seconds if there's any movement.)

At this point, if you sense a tinge of skepticism, you're right. There was no doubt that there would be hundreds of shots; and fate being fate, virtually all of them would be blurry images of an empty feeder. As day turned to dusk, it was time to break down the assembly. And as if the whole project hadn't been "iffy" enough, I discovered that a squirrel had discovered that the mounting board made for a dandy trampoline onto the feeder. Oh goody...

And this is where the luck comes in... We caught almost 400 pics, and of those, at least a dozen were quite good. (I've already uploaded them into our free Flickr library in the "Favorite Bird Photos" area.) That was near miraculous. On a good day, just 2 or 3 keepers is considered a win.

So enjoy the bluebirds, the downy, and even the squirrel... (The squirrel shots alone hold yet another post!)

See you by those serendipitous feeders,

CapeCodAlan

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 3:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It's a nice turkey pic isn't it? The wife took it the other day with our new Canon 10 mega-pixel Eos. With that, the photo was plunked into one of our computer's "Excellent" folders ready to gather "binary dust" along with 237 other shots. (And that's not counting the contents of the five folders inside the "Excellent" folder.) So goes the modern digital birding peril - photography overload. In spite of all our efforts to organize all these snapshots, we still have thousands scattered over three computers, and two servers.

My guess is that we're not alone - far from it. The wife and I are only casual backyard birders - we take a few pictures here and there. We let the NovaBird fire off a couple hundred snaps when the mood strikes. But before you know it, you're facing an image library of very large and unwieldy proportions. (You can use the "eBirdseed.com photo library" link below to look at a goodly portion of those.) Seriously, what are we going to do with the problem of an almost limitless supply of pics? Back in December of 2006, I outlined a simple folder structure that would alleviate much of the dilemma, but even that seems overwhelmed now.

Sometime over the holidays, the wife and I will make a gallant attempt to put our "Pix House" in order and update our flickr library... We'll keep you posted. But in the mean time, if anyone has a magic bullet that will bring easy organization to the peril of "photography overload", I'm eager to hear about it.

See you by those JPG feeders,

CapeCodAlan

P.S. If you're looking for a photo of a bird that haunts the Northeast and can't find it, let me know. I may have just what you're looking for on one of my machines if I can just unearth it..

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 11:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

• First of all, forget about buying one of those mega-mega pixel, big honkin' lens gadgets. They don't work, and a rare few wizards have wrapped them in the mysteries of lingo like "aperture", "f-stop", and "speed". No... Look for something like the rig on the right: the now famous eBirdseed.com NovaBird motion-activated, fixed focal-length, remote camera complete with $1.00 tripod (mended with "Mighty Putty"), extension cord, ruler to measure the aforementioned focal length, and transformer. Granted, using the camera (like bird photography itself) is an iffy proposition at best, but at least you do get to stay warm with that setup.
• Next, don't think of it as photography... "Photography" is for those wizards with studios and umbrellas they've painted silver. The preferred phrase in our neck of the woods is "Bird Keno" - that is, the odds of capturing a decent picture of a bird are roughly the same as hitting the lottery.
• If you do have to buy one of those new-fangled shutter shacks, read the manual. (Not that that will do you a lot of good, but at least you can truthfully say that you read the manual. Fate loves an honest soul.)
• Pretty much all the new cameras have little dials on top that access presets. Get to know those dials; it may be your only hope!
• As you're trying to take pics, listen to your inner self. When the lighting, distance, subject, and karma all feel correct, start snapping. On the other hand, when phrases akin to, "Is that a bear?" creep into mind, do something else.

And finally, if all else fails, pencil and paper work too.

See you by the feeders,

CapeCodAlan

P.S. We actually do have some decent pics in our library, and especially here.

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Posted by CapeCodAlan at 12:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)