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.

Tag: Wildlife

Other creatures in our world

  • Barred Owl on the Dutchess Rail Trail

    Just south of Lake Walton on the Dutchess Rail Trail, I encountered a barred owl with wings spread around something yummy in its talons (clicky for more dots):

    MAH00389-0548 - Barred Owl on DCRT - 1
    MAH00389-0548 – Barred Owl on DCRT – 1

    The owl acquired weapons lock on me, just in case I might try to steal its fresh-killed meal:

    MAH00389-0548 - Barred Owl on DCRT - 2
    MAH00389-0548 – Barred Owl on DCRT – 2

    My neck doesn’t turn nearly that far, so I lost the staring contest:

    MAH00389-0548 - Barred Owl on DCRT - 3
    MAH00389-0548 – Barred Owl on DCRT – 3

    Owls being good folks to have around, we wish ’em well: may they raise many owlets!

    The pictures were extracted from the Sony HDR-AS30V helmet camera with this incantation:

    avconv -ss 00:05:30 -i /mnt/video/2015-05-15/MAH00389.MP4 -t 20 -f image2 -q 1 Image-%04d.jpg

    The -q 1 parameter should produce an image with the same dots as the original, but that really doesn’t mean much in the face of the camera’s relentless video compression.

    Here’s a dot-for-dot crop (at 100% JPEG quality = uncompressed) showing the tradeoff between wide field-of-view, detail, and compression:

    MAH00389-0548 - Barred Owl on DCRT - 2 - detail
    MAH00389-0548 – Barred Owl on DCRT – 2 – detail

    Makes me appreciate my eyesight: I spotted that owl when it covered just a few image pixels. Of course, at first I thought somebody dropped a hoodie on the trail, then maybe it was a chunk of debris, so I eased off the asphalt onto the gravel Just In Case.

  • Squirrel Pup Rescue

    We recently watched a gray squirrel drag a completely limp and unresponsive companion across the driveway, stopping every few yards to rest. We often see pairs of squirrels frisking / chasing / tussling in the yard, but this was something new.

    After 100 feet of dragging, with pauses every few yards, the squirrel had hauled her companion to the fence at the far side of the yard. I leaped to the conclusion that the limp squirrel was dead:

    Mother squirrel and pup - 1
    Mother squirrel and pup – 1

    But, after perhaps a minute, the “dead” squirrel gradually awoke and both critters slowly clambered up the fence. The squirrel on the right had been doing the dragging and is unquestionably female, the one on the left is much smaller and likely a new pup:

    Mother squirrel and pup - 2
    Mother squirrel and pup – 2

    So apparently the mother squirrel had hauled one of her pups away from something. Perhaps it was stunned after falling out of a tree or the sole survivor of a hawk attack? We’ll never know The Rest of The Story.

    Forgive the anthropomorphism, but if this isn’t motherly love & comfort, then give me another word for it:

    Mother squirrel and pup - 3
    Mother squirrel and pup – 3

    Taken through two layers of wavy 1955 window glass with the Sony DSC-H5.

  • Honkers!

    Spotted these Canada Geese over Page Industrial Park on the Dutchess Rail Trail:

    Canada Geese over DCRT
    Canada Geese over DCRT

    They were discussing current events and seemed to be having a fine time.

    I was, too!

    An image from the HDR-AS30V helmet camera video, with just a touch of contrast adjustment.

  • Bird Box Cleanout

    The effort those little birds put into their nests never ceases to amaze me:

    Bird box cleanout - old nests
    Bird box cleanout – old nests

    Last year it was the same story. Of course, if we didn’t clean out the boxes, the birds would do it on their own, so perhaps we help them get started earlier.

  • Red-Bellied Woodpecker

    Woodpeckers generally perch with their tummies against a tree, so it took me a long time to understand why Red-bellied Woodpeckers have that name:

    Red-bellied Woodpecker - suet feeder
    Red-bellied Woodpecker – suet feeder

    The bright red nape and head seemed entirely sufficient to me, but another woodpecker claimed that name first…

  • Backyard Turkey Flock

    The turkey flock that normally lives along the Wappingers Creek valley, downslope from the back yard, has emerged for the ritual spring foraging:

    Turkey flock - 0
    Turkey flock – 0

    And posturing:

    Turkey flock - 1
    Turkey flock – 1

    And just moseying around:

    Turkey flock - 2
    Turkey flock – 2

    You can match the trees and identify some duplicated birds, but the flock seems stable around a dozen. They used to deploy skirmish lines upwards of two dozen bird and we’ve recently counted 19; we think foxes have been encouraging better control of wandering chicks.

    Turkeys are good folks…

  • Backyard Deer Herd

    One deer might be cute:

    Deer Herd - outlier
    Deer Herd – outlier

    But the rest of the herd makes up for it:

    Deer Herd - main
    Deer Herd – main

    You’ll note the complete lack of understory vegetation; the only remaining plants can withstand continuous deer browsing. Deer have clipped all of the evergreens five feet off the ground, even through they don’t normally eat evergreens…

    In fact, there’s no new tree growth in the Hudson Valley, because tree seedlings don’t stand a chance.