Tue 15 Aug 2006
August 15, 2006 - It’s about time!
Posted by Zach Glenwright under Backyard Bag Feeder Project, Birds, Edited Feeds (SD), Grackles, SquirrelsWell, after what’s seemed like 1000 years to me, the heat has finally died down and the animals are slowly starting to creep their way back into the yard (and back into camera view…) I’ve been putting out a test camera to see what (if anything) would chance it’s way to get some food from the Feeder project, and slowly but surely I’ve been getting things to “take a chance” on camera… Yesterday I set up some controllable cameras to get a better shot of what’s been eating near the project and the neighboorhood crowd did not disappoint - there was “pointer squirrel” (you’ll see it in the beginning of the video), a Grackle or 2 (which is a huge deal for me, as I haven’t had them come to the yard in the last few years) and a very good shot of a squirrel just checking things out…
“Who… me??”
It's about time! - Squirrels and Grackles, 8-15-06 [1:15m]:
August 15th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
Very good stuff Zach
We don’t get grackles here at all, though they are allegedly one of the most common of birds. The only place I have ever seen any is on the beach at Santa Cruz.
I am minded to try your project here, and see what the results are, given that I have many alternative - and easier - sources of food already. It would be interesting to see whether different animals came, and whether the squirrels would rise to a new challenge or just be lazy and stick with what they know. I need to think more on where to do it, first, and how to capture it. But in any event it’s a fascinating idea and, as you say somewhere else on your site, different from the same old stuff you see on other sites (like mine, LOL). If I plagiarise your idea should I add a “Licensed by Zach Glenwright” to any successful clips?
August 16th, 2006 at 12:05 am
#1 - Oh yeah? I’ve heard of Grackles being common, and I’ve seen them in the area during the last few years, but they haven’t been in the yard lately. It used to be the first day I put my project out, I’d have grackles within the hour… one time it took them a whole 5 minutes to start coming! As years have gone on though, they’ve been coming less and less, to the point last year where I had aboslutely no grackles at all visiting my setup… it’s kind of confusing… Maybe the squirrels have a stranglehold of the territory and they’re not letting anyone else in? One thing I noticed about the grackles that have come recently is that they’re afraid of chipmunks… they’re at least twice the size of one, but they always fly off when they see one. Interesting - it’s like the “elephant and the mouse” syndrome…
#2 - That would be fine with me! You might not be able to start it right away (it takes some planning first, like you were saying), but it would be interesting to see what you get! I’ve wanted to see what other results people in other places could get with that setup… the “licensed by Zach Glenwright” idea sounds good also - I like it for branding ~
I started to put together a “making-of” video a few months ago that I never got around to finishing here - it shows most of the Feeder project creation, just not the cameras being set up… let me know if you have any other questions.