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

  • Red-bellied Woodpecker: Too Heavy!

    A red-bellied woodpecker landed on the seed feeder, but the flapping tells you something’s not right:

    Red-bellied woodpecker at feeder - closing
    Red-bellied woodpecker at feeder – closing

    After the fluttering stopped, the seeds had vanished:

    Red-bellied woodpecker at feeder - puzzled
    Red-bellied woodpecker at feeder – puzzled

    According to our books, a red-bellied woodpecker weighed 72.5 g = 2.6 oz back in 1952. The feeder counterweight reads 3 oz and that’s confirmed by my pull scale. Perhaps woodpeckers suffer from the obesity epidemic, too?

    The feeder closes with one cardinal (44 g) and two tufted titmouses (2 x 22 g), all of whom seem rather surprised at the situation.

  • Special Thanksgiving Visitors

    Wild Turkeys used to be all over our yard, up in the trees, even stalking the house, but then they got scarce. In fact, we haven’t seen any turkeys for several months.

    Apparently the heavy snow just before Thanksgiving pushed the flock out of the creek bottomland to forage along the driveway:

    Turkey flock - Thanksgiving 2014
    Turkey flock – Thanksgiving 2014

    We counted 21 birds… and we’re glad to see they’re doing well.

    Welcome back!

  • Praying Mantis

    A praying mantis appeared along the top of the living room windows:

    Praying mantis on window
    Praying mantis on window

    They’re ferocious hunters and we’re in favor of them… but having them on the outside of the window works better for all of us.

    Those old Anderson windows seem to attract big critters…

  • Spider Breakfast

    The season of giant orb-weaving spiders comes again to Poughkeepsie, with this one stretching a web across the decorative grasses bracketing the (unused) front door:

    Orb spider - at rest
    Orb spider – at rest

    While I screwed around with the camera, she dashed off to one side and began wrapping a package:

    Orb spider - wrapping insect
    Orb spider – wrapping insect

    Her spinnerets release a torrent of silk during that operation!

    Dragging it back to the middle of her orb, she settled down for breakfast.

    Orb spider - ready for breakfast
    Orb spider – ready for breakfast

    So did I…

    Hand held with the Sony DSC-H5, facing westward in dawn light, using the flash to bring the image up out of the mud. A touch of unsharp mask and some contrast stretching; nothing too drastic.

  • Love at First Sight?

    Woolly bear caterpillar on corn cob
    Woolly bear caterpillar on corn cob

    The corn cob sat on the patio after an outdoor supper, awaiting a trip to the trash can, when an all-black woolly bear caterpillar appeared from nowhere.

    I’m sure it’s a direct descendant of that one. We put this one in the garden, too, for the same reason.

  • Chipmunk Feeding Zone

    Mary puts damaged cherry tomatoes beside our resident chipmunk’s favorite hideout:

    Chipmunk Feeding Zone
    Chipmunk Feeding Zone

    The critter eats them from the inside out, then tosses the shredded skins.

    Since she started leaving her offerings, the chipmunk has been leaving the good cherry tomatoes in her garden untouched. We’re both astonished at how many tomatoes fit inside one chipmunk…

  • Roosting Vultures

    These turkey vultures were settling in for the evening on the south bank of the Rondout Creek in Kingston:

    Vultures roosting - Rondout Creek Kingston NY
    Vultures roosting – Rondout Creek Kingston NY

    Hand-held with the HS-230SX at dusk and cropped a bit. There’s no way to get a good exposure of a black bird backlit by the sky…