Tag-Teaming Crows!!!!

After the few days of the “squirrels-only” project, I wanted to try and attract the crows again. I’ve been getting little pecks of interest here and there with the crows since the big events last week, but nothing really serious - there’s a piece of bread on the ground, a black beak comes in from the side and *yoink* - it’s gone. That’s about all I’ve seen of the crows in the last few days - but at least they’re still there.

So on Monday, I asked around and found (well, my mother found it eventually, actually :)) a page on feeding crows. They suggested apples, cheese and bread, while I suggested many times “this will never work!!” Cut up a small bit of apple, a few small pieces of a white american cheese slice, and left the bread in the bag that’s been in there since I put it out for the squirrels… it was now ready for it’s adoring crow public. Of course, just like I thought - it didn’t work. A few squirrels came here and there, and I had a Black Vulture that flew over the house but didn’t land (wouldn’t that be cool to see on cam!!!!) but no crows… Tuesday came, one crow grabbed a small piece of bread that was laying on the ground again, and that was it… but still, at least they’re still coming back!

But then… on Wednesday, things changed for the better!… (→ continue on with March 14, 2007 - Tag-Teaming Crows!!!!!)

 

 Tag-Teaming Crows!!!!, 3-14-07 [4:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

After a few days with little-to-no success with the crow-oriented Backyard Bag Feeder Project design with the crows, I figured I’d make new squirrels-only Feeder mat with peanuts instead of bread. I cut a new piece of foam, made a few hidden compartments (and a few somewhat obvious compartments), put a little bread in the side (you know, just in case a crow would decide to check things out) and filled all of the other compartments with peanuts. Since I’ve done this project time and time again with the squirrels, I really didn’t think I was going to have a problem getting them to come around…

Well, last year about this time, I had a similar project going for weeks until I got even one squirrel interested enough to come into the frame of the shot (I had the cameras set up as minimalistically as possible so the movement wouldn’t disturb them, so I couldn’t move the shot), let alone tear into the Feeder to get the nuts out. The main reason for the lack of squirrels last year was mainly the nest that was… let’s just say “taken down” (”torn down” would be more like it) by order of the local code enforcer. Yeah, that’s a wonderful thing to find out once you’ve finally saved up enough money to get a lens long enough to watch the squirrel’s nest, isn’t it…?

That was last year though -

this year, the yard is filled with squirrels’ nests, so that means it’s filled with squirrels! (I can’t help but think the November-December vertical feeder project helped with that a little :)), …sooo no problem getting squirrels to come this time! - Although it took a little longer for them to come around, they came, they sniffed and they ripped into the Feeder mat - the first one into the Feeder was interesting to watch, because it just stood there, kind of half-interested… and then it tore into it! And now that I have the mic feeding in from the outside (it’s actually sitting inside the mat!), I have awesome sounds of the squirrels near, on and ripping in to the bag!

 

 For Squirrel Eyes Only!, 3-12-07 [5:36m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

…for Abi~

Snowy Squirrel… on tree…

One of the most aggrivating taping sessions in awhile… don’t you just love it when the shots don’t line up anything close to what you’re going for…? Well, this was one of those days. Of course, the squirrels don’t face the camera, they’re always on the other side… the tripod is either just too short or too long, and… and… and…!! Well, at least I did manage to get some shots of squirrels out in the snow!

 

 Snowy Squirrel on Tree, 2-13-07 [0:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

HD sunset… just… because.

 

 A Mid-Winter’s Dreamscape Sunset (Small HD Version) [0:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

On New Year’s Day, I had a chance to set cameras up to tape some casual squirrel moments… In the one, a squirrel eats a nut and towards the end seems to rub it’s face on the tree-bark… I’m not sure why it did that, because I don’t think they scent-mark like that, so I’m kinda confused…

Aah, the feel of tree bark… ohhh…

And the confusion doesn’t end there… the 2nd video is a squirrel doing what looks like a dry heave to me… I’m not sure what it’s doing, if it’s defensive or just a temperature reaction, but it’s weird looking! The video itself is only 40 seconds and shows a little of the squirrel’s strangeness, but the event went on for about 10 minutes! Is it hiccupping? I don’t know!

 

 Tree-face Squirrel Rub-down!, 1-1-07 [0:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 

 Dry heaving? What's this squirrel doing?!, 1-1-07 [0:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Look at how cold he looks… Not the most exciting squirrel, not the most extreme video — but still cool for those of us who are somewhat squirrel-centric~

Squirrel reflecting… with it’s reflection… video follows below…

No music this time though - I couldn’t think of an appropriate theme for the soundtrack, and when I do, all I can think of is either a commercial piece or a music library piece that I can’t use… so if you need a soundtrack, check for a song called “Destination Pulsation” from an album called “Rhythmworx” - that’s the closest piece that I could find to fit the video, but I can’t use the song, because I don’t have a license… Abi, could you think of a song that’s usable that would fit this?

Picture and video in this post © Zach Glenwright

 

 2 Minutes of Squirrel Reflection, 12-2-06 [2:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

This is a sure-tell sign that it’s about to rain soon…

…I usually see about 3 or 4 squirrels resting in the trees like this when it’s about to get rainy… so it’s a good time to check the trees for possible shots! Video follows below, and due to advice from past shots like this, I composed a short-length light dreamy-like musical background piece in Soundtrack to compliment the video…

Picture and video in this post © Zach Glenwright

 

 the Sleepy Squirrel!, 11-29-06 [1:05m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

I was going to post this up in the morning, but sleeping in later than I was going to and working all day after that didn’t help…

I was going to toss something out on Wednesday and saw this leaf… looking at it closer, I notced that it wasn’t an ordinary leaf…

Video follows below…

Pictures and video in this post © Zach Glenwright

 

 Praying Mantis, 10-5-06 [0:49m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

I’ve been wanting to post this video for a few weeks, but I’ve just now gotten around to capturing and editing it… It’s nothing amazing, but I like the effect of the sun’s rays shining down on the chipmunk and the sparrow and thought it would be nice to post it…

Chipmunk in tall grass - video is below…

 

 Reflections, 10-1-06 [1:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Yep, it’s time for another video posting! I finally had a chance to get some squirrels to come on camera Thursday - a very nice test for the HDV camera… Most of the time, they faced away from the camera, like this:

Ol’ Bulging Eye

It’s in those shots that I notice a few things:
• Squirrel eyes are a lot bulgier than I thought… I knew they were large, but…
• The video really shows the texture on the squirrel’s ears as well - interesting look (especially on the full-size version of the above picture, please excuse the interlacing artifacts - it looked worse de-interlaced)

Of course, that picture isn’t the best shot of the mix, and there’s a lot of cool shots where the squirrels do face the camera, but this picture shows off the ear texture the best…

One other thing I found interesting in the video was in the chipmunk segment in the beginning - there’s a mosquito buzzing around it, trying to suck blood from it, and it (seems to) succeed a few times that I saw - it’s a little hard to see (the mosquito) in the web version, but very clear in the raw version!

 

 BBFP Squirrels, 9-28-06 [2:37m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

It was s u p p o s e d to rain yesterday, so I didn’t set anything up. The squirrels were apparently getting ready for the rain also, because there were about 3 of them resting up before the “storm” was about to hit…

Sunday Sleepy Sunday

A 2 minute video of the squirrel sleeping is below this post… At one point, the squirrel moves it’s left ear in - very interesting - I didn’t know they move their ears independantly like that… I think the only rain drops the entire day can be seen on the little branch above the squirrel’s head…

 

 Sunday Sleepy Sunday, 9-25-06 [2:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Another sunny day yesterday gave me the opportunity to try more HDV shots… My favorite shot?

This one…

What?!

And of course, as I went to tilt up to fix the crop of the shot, the squirrel moved… Ah, well… A short video from some of the best of my test shots is below…

 

 Backyard Feeder Project HDV Test, 9-21-06 [1:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Well, it’s been about… forever… since I posted anything, mainly since I haven’t been able to get anything lately. Whenever it’s fine to shoot video, I’m working… when I have time to shoot video, it’s either raining, I’m busy doing something or, I set cameras out and get nothing…

A few weeks ago, I sold one of my better camcorders and upgraded it to a 1080i HDV camcorder, and I’ve been itchy to try it out on my project. It’s been raining constantly here since I got the camera, which both leaves the animals to shelter from the rain, and I’m not going to put the camera out in the rain, of course…

Last week, I was fortunate to tape a squirrel resting, trying to dry off… There is a QuickTime version (I lost the ability to make .wmv files, as an OS upgrade made me lose the serial # to my WMV encoder) of that file at the bottom of this post, video size greatly reduced for the page, of course…

I finally had a chance to try it yesterday in the sun, with the platform setup that I’ve done in the past. The dynamic of what comes to eat at what times has changed greatly since August, with squirrels not even trying before noontime or so, so I didn’t get any squirrel shots… but I did manage to get a chipmunk eating some peanuts…

Chipmunk stuffing his face…

Today? 60% of rain (and of course, it’s sunny now)… Sometimes you never win…

 

 Chipmunk stuffing his face..., 9-19-06 [0:43m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

 

 Rain, rain, go away..., 9-15-06 [0:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup