A Jonah log

At last, I found what I've been looking for -- a Jonah log, a log for camera trapping from within. It's a fallen snag with a cavity about 12 inches wide and 6 feet long. No need for chain sawing. There's a large opening big enough for the camera trap, and a small opening to create a draft over the bait -- in this case, smoked herring. True, it's a bit far from home here in northern Virginia, but good Jonah logs are hard to find.



I hope the county park authorities don't mind some cosmetic adjustments. The cavity was a basin, a nasty microhabitat for disease vectors, and it seriously needed drainage. Plus, I don't need any surprises like finding a camera floating in punk water.



Then I juryrigged a camera mount (not many supplies here at my daughter and son-in-law's).



The walk test was impossible. I couldn't see if the sensor was detecting my hand, so I recruited the redhead. While she looked for the flash in the big opening I imitated a vet giving a rectal exam to a cow.



I am not promising anything from this Jonah log. There are just a few days left before we head home, but until then I'll be checking it daily.

Camera Trapping Workshop : schedule (draft)

Here's a draft schedule of topics and activities for enrollees and prospective takers of my camera trapping workshop at SF State University's Sierra Nevada Field Campus.


Sunday, July 20:
PM:
arrival and check-in.
After dinner:
introductions, goals, program for the week.

Monday, July 21:
AM:
Activity: camera trapping plan (what are we after and where do we look?); reconnaissance and deployment of cams.

Topics covered:
camera trap sets (ground versus arboreal)
camera attachment (trees versus posts, telescoping poles, bungies, cables, special attachments)
camera security (people and bears)
PIR sensors (strengths and weaknesses, compensations)
GPSing locations

PM:
Discussion:
of today's activities and topics
demonstration of GPS and topographic map downloading (aids to finding your cameras)

Tuesday, July 22:
AM:
Activity:
(1) collect early morning cams; re-bait or re-set
(2) mobbing experiment (use of a raptor model to compare camera traps with hand-held cameras)
(3) predator caller demonstration

Topics covered:
(1) what camera traps can and can't do
(2) use of scent and sound lures
(3) anticipating behavior at the set and pre-visualizing pictures

PM:
Activity:
(1) Collect pre-set cam B (hike); return and download photos
(2) owl calling (after discussion when it's dark)

Discussion:
(1) keeping records (to do it or not to do it?);
(2) camera trapping databases (inventory of set locations, spreadsheet of camera trapping results); photo index files;
(3) digital photo processing
(4) continued discussion of today's topics

Wednesday, July 23:
AM:
Activity:
(1) collect early morning cams; re-bait or re-set;

Topics covered:
(1) camera trapping kits
(2) survival and safety in the wilderness

PM:
Activity:
(2) collect pre-set cam C (hike); return and download photos

Discussion:
(1) batteries (alkalines vs. rechargeables)
(2) ecology and camera trapping (home range size and trophic relations; habitats and species).

Thursday, July 24:

AM:
Activity:
(1) collect cams.

Topics covered:
(1) night-time photography (flash versus IR; supplemental external flash); fill flash

PM:
Activity:
Collect pre-set cam D (hike); return and download photos.

Discussion:
(1) Topics of choice
(2) (activity) copy photos to CDs for participants

Friday, July 25:
AM:
Activity:
(1) collect cams and pack
(2) evaluation

Camera Trapping Workshop : mammal species list

Here's a list of some mammals for enrollees and prospective takers of my camera trapping workshop at SF State University's Sierra Nevada Field Campus. These species, from rare to common, are known to occur in the area. I didn't include the moles for obvious reasons (and gophers are almost as hard to photograph). Jim Steele, the station director says he is almost certain he saw a wolverine up there a few years ago.

We'll try to camera trap as many species as possible using two approaches. First, 3-4 weeks before the workshop I'll set 4 cams. That will give us about 100 camera-trap-days of effort, and we'll collect one cam per day during the workshop. Second, we'll use the other cameras to target specific species or groups of species. We'll make camera sets in specific habitats and microhabitats and check those daily too. I'll post a preliminary workshop schedule in a few days.

If you are interested in the topographic maps for the area the quads are: Gold Lake, Clio, Sierra City, and Haypress Valley. I have them on my laptop, but I'll also buy a set of hard copies.

Here are some references if you want to start researching any species of particular interest.

Mammalian Species" These excellent technical summaries published by the American Society of Mammalogists are downloadable as pdf files.

Verts, B.J. and L. Carraway. 1998. Land mammals of Oregon. University of California Press. Another excellent reference that also covers most of the California species.

Wilson, D.E. ad S Ruff. 1999. The Smithsonian Book of North American Mammals. Smithsonian Insititution Press, Washington DC. A comprehensive and outstanding treatment of all mammals in North America.

Ingles, L.G. 1965. Mammals of the Pacific States: California, Oregon, and Washington. Stanford University Press, Palo Alto. A bit out of date, but still a very useful reference.



Marsupial

Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana)

Carnivores

Coyote (Canis latrans)
Red fox (Vulpes fulva)
Bobcat (Lynx rufus)
Mountain lion (Felis concolor)
Black bear (Ursus americanus)
Marten (Martes americana)
Fisher (Martes pennanti)
Wolverine (Gulo luscus)
Badger (Taxidea taxus)
Long-tailed weasel (Mustela frenata)
Short-tailed weasel (Mustela erminea)
River otter (Lutra canadensis)
Striped skunk (Mephitus mephitus)
Spotted skunk (Spilogale gracilis)

Insectivores

Water shrew (Sorex palustris)
Marsh shrew (Sorex bendirei)
Vagrant shrew (Sorex vagrans)
Dusky shrew (Sorex obscurus)

Rodents

Porcupine (Erethizon dorsatum)
Mountain beaver (Aplodontia rufa)
Beaver (Castor canadensis)
Douglas squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasi)
Northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus)
Golden-mantled ground squirrel (Spermophilus lateralus)
Yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris)
Long-tailed meadow mouse (Microtus longicaudus)
Montane meadow mouse (Microtus montanus)
Deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus)
Brush mouse (Peromyscus boylei)
Pinyon mouse (Peromyscus truei)
Pacific jumping mouse (Zapus pacificus)
Red-bellied harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris)
Bushy-tailed woodrat (Neotoma cinerea)
Townsend's chipmunk (Tamias townsendi)
Long-eared chipmunk (Tamias quadrimaculatus)
Lodgepole chipmunk (Tamias speciosus)
Yellow pine chipmunk (Tamias amoenus)
Botta pocket gopher (Thomomys bottae)
Montane pocket gopher (Thomomys monticola)
Beechey ground squirrel (Spermophilus beecheyi sierrae)
Belding ground squirrel (Spermophilus beldingi)

Lagomorphs

Pika (Ochotona princeps)
Brsh rabbit (Sylvilagis bachmanni)
Snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus)

Ungulate

Black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus)

You never know who's gonna show

Last September an Austrian camera trapper got a surprise. The gentleman, who monitors wildlife at his feeding station near the town of Rotenturm checked his camera and found images of some rather unexpected and unsavory visitors. If you read German the story is here.

The visitors were a couple of burglers who were seeking a quiet place to break open a stolen safe. In darkness they dragged the loot into a small clearing in the woods where our nature lover's infrared camera trap was waiting. The jokers were center stage and the camera recorded the crime together with images of their vehicle, including the license plate.

They were apprehended based on the camera trap evidence.

I am sure the camera trapper would have preferred publicity about images of non-human wildlife. But you never know who is going to show up in front of a camera trap.

Thanks to Wolfgang Schleidt for bringing this story to my attention.

Fox in bright light

I reached for the unreachable star last week. I deployed the camera trap at a new set, but I also staked an external flash nearby. The inspiration to use an external flash came from Natasha Mhatre's recent flash photo of a short-nosed fruit bat. (Her blog is well worth visiting.)

Let's face it. When it comes to nocturnal flash photography side illumination looks a lot better than front-on lighting. The shadows give a better sense of contour.

It's been nearly a year since I used the external flash, but some of you may recall my previous exercises in external flash photography, like No more starry eyes and Showdown at Big Rock.

The problem is that the external flash eats up a pair of D cells in a week, and I haven't figured out a way to protect it with spikes should an irritable bear take issue with it -- which is very likely in these parts.

Reservations aside, I set the camera trap at this old snag, which snapped in the winter storms.

I set the camera's flash on minimal brightness for dim frontal lighting, but enough to trigger the brighter external flash which is on a slave unit.

As you can see, Br'er Fox made its usual appearance. At the top of the page it looks like it's witnessing an atomic test blast that just fried its eyeballs.

Here it's looking at the blast without the recommended sunglasses.

Obviously, the ASA on the flash was set too low.



Then Br'er Fox decided to get closer to the external flash by extending its neck. This is quite an achievement, but what I want you to notice in this picture is that the lighting is only from the camera. See? The stump lacks shadows.



I reset the ASA on the external flash to tone it down. Next week we'll see if it makes a difference.

Do you know where your dogs are?

If you don't, read this important message.

They are in a ravine, and it's wild down there. There's a lot of poison oak and things like big tawny cats.

It's not far from your house as the crow flies, but it's several hundred feet downhill and a quarter mile from the nearest road. Easy to get lost down there. Hard to find dead dogs.

But let's face it. If one of the dogs didn't come home you would hope for the best. You'd post handbills on the power poles, with your dog's description, picture, and name. And your telephone number. Then you'd wait for the call.

But the big cat in the ravine isn't picky. Dogs are fair game. If it can catch your pet, it's going to eat it.

You are right though, there's safety in numbers. Yes, two bold dogs could stave off an attack, especially if they see the big cat first and give full-throated chase.

But the big cat has the advantage down there. If only one dog comes home acting strangely, well, there's no need for the handbill.

So if I were you, good neighbor, I'd keep my dogs around the house. And I'd lock them up at night.

The big cats around here really like dog meat.

[BTW, the redhead finds preposterous irony in this post. "That's ridiculous, what are YOU doing down there?!"
Me: "I'm looking for owl pellets -- bwaaahahahaHaaaah!"]

Nature recharges my battery without fail

[Owling in '64]

At the instigation of Jochen at Bell Tower Birding, Owlman at Owlbox done tagged me.

Hey, what's happening?

Okay. The meme in the title of this post is a statement in six words about "my birder within". IOW, 6 words that describe me as a birder (kind of)! That was the assignment. I offer the archival photos only as supportive evidence because there is no mention of birds in my six words.



It could as easily have been "fur and feathers light my fire". (And that's about all that does these days -- LOL). Or "Raptors and Sousa stir my soul". Or "Birding is my kind of escapism". Or "I did my masters on shrikes". Yada, yada, yada . . . .

To keep this thing going I am tagging five other unsuspecting birdfriendly 'bloggas': Mr Smiley, Beverly, Terry, John, and Schmokin' Bill.

Here are the rules (copied from the original blogger who started this):

1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere
4. Tag five more blogs with links
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

If you all respond Jochen ought to be mighty pleased, and quaff a few extra beers at the corner Kneipe.



Now go do the right thang!