The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

Category: Oddities

Who’d’a thunk it?

Mouse Nest Location: Bad Decisionmaking

It’s always a good idea to open the barby lid before firing the burners: sometimes unexpected things appear:

Mouse nest in grill – foundation

The mouse being out and about at the time, I dumped the nest (which was just a foundation) over the patio railing into the flower garden, burned out the remainder at full throttle, and continued the mission.

A week later, the mouse had not only returned, but finished off a substantial nest in the same spot, topped with a jaunty bird feather. The entrance tunnel is on the right, opening into a comfy mouse-sized pocket inside:

Mouse nest in grill – finished

Once again, I dumped the nest over the railing, burned out the rest, and continued the mission.

As of three weeks later, the mouse hasn’t returned; I trust it found a hollow log somewhere out back.

As nearly as I can tell, the mouse climbed up a square steel leg, scampered through the grease catch pan, leaped up through the drain hole, wriggled through three layers of crossed bars, and then deposited a single mouthful of building material.

I really need a critter camera…

2013-09-29
Parsley Worm on Dill

Four of these ferocious Parsley Worms were chowing down on a volunteer dill plant along the garden fence:

Parsley Worm Caterpillar on Dill

Amazingly, they turn into Black Swallowtail butterflies that sometimes visit the Butterfly Bush outside our living room window. Well, maybe not this one, but certainly some of its relatives.

We don’t hassle them; they have a fearsome threat display that apparently works wonders on their natural predators.

2013-09-28
Nasturtium Leaves: After the Rain

The water collected in nasturtium leaves after a shower looks like droplets of mercury:

Water drop in nasturtium leaf

They refract outdoor lighting when seen from the correct viewpoint:

Water drops in nasturtium leaf

These were at the Morse Estate. Hand-held with the Canon SX230HS in low light conditions.

2013-09-22
Turkey Vultures Afield

We don’t often see Turkey Vultures on the ground, so this gathering was unusual:

Turkey vultures on the ground

The depression in the grass suggests something keeled over right there; perhaps they’re rummaging around for leftovers. Although they’re totally graceless on foot, it works well enough for them.

There were two vultures on posts when I stopped, but one joined the ground party before I could deploy the camera. The other bird kept a close eye on me throughout the proceedings:

Turkey vulture on fence post

Look alive!

Pix from the Canon SX230HS, zoomed to its optical limit, and certainly not prizewinners…

2013-09-21
Monthly Image: Alien vs. Predator, Backyard Edition

Late August is, as always, the season for giant orb-weaving spiders, one of which spun a web between two tall cactus plants on the patio and greeted us with this sight one morning:

Spider vs. Dragonfly – overview

We’re big fans of both spiders and dragonflies, but it was obvious who came out on top in this contest:

Spider vs. Dragonfly – front

These things are unimaginably weird:

Spider vs. Dragonfly – bottom detail

Even with the spider busy at lunch, she has four eyes to spare. They reflect the flash and appear as white-centered dark dots near the middle of the image:

Spider vs. Dragonfly – many eyes

I’m sure the red spinnerets are diagnostic:

Spider vs. Dragonfly – side detail

The spider tossed the empty husk over the side, then spent the next two nights and days parked in her lair, presumably digesting that big meal, and didn’t bother repairing the web:

Spider vs. Dragonfly – spider at home

She spun a fresh web on the third night and caught a more manageable insect:

Spider with smaller prey

All hand-held with the Sony DSC-H5, some with a 2x close-up lens. All the pix are tight crops, crushed to fit my arbitrary 750 pixel maximum and 200 kB size limit. If you need high-res original images for anything, drop me a note; I took far too many pictures of this encounter…

2013-09-15
Mechanical Railroad Switch Actuator: Relic of the Empire

Once upon a time, the current Dutchess Rail Trail was an active railroad line, complete with all the usual switchgear and signals. This relic, abandoned in place near the east entrance to the Walkway Over the Hudson, looks like it changed the direction of motion at a right angle:

DCRT Abandoned Switchgear – rod in tree trunk

I think the rod near the top of the picture came from a control lever, with the clevis to the right attached to a rod that moved the switch points.

And, yes, the rod passes right through that tree trunk. The metal gadgetry just in front of the trunk once captured the rod between rollers:

DCRT Abandoned Switchgear – rod in tree trunk – detail

The body casting speaks of a bygone age of industrial might:

DCRT Abandoned Switchgear – General Railway Signal Co casting

It’s been a long time since the General Railway Signal Company cast that iron in Rochester NY…

2013-09-10
Driveway Drain Debris Clog

Alas, the nice slotted cap I put on the driveway drain can’t handle the amount of debris released by the trees next to the house and above the gutters. I’d removed the thumbscrew to simplify clearing the cap whenever I go for the mail, but that just accentuated the problem:

Driveway drain – fountain

The backup must be over a foot of water at the end of the pipe; that fountain emerges from the 1/4 inch hole for the thumbscrew. Fortunately, the slope is large enough that the water (probably) isn’t backing up into the retaining wall footing drain.

When the pine trees toss their dead needles overboard, the cap plugs solid and, minus the screw, blows across the driveway:

Driveway drain – clogged

It usually doesn’t roll very far, although I’ve retrieved it halfway to the street.

I still think the chipmunks will move in without a grate blocking the pipe, but I’m unsure how to proceed…

2013-09-07