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Enfys
Feb 17, 2013

The ocean is calling and I must go

https://mobile.twitter.com/lgroskin/status/1357792452934045701

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Agrinja
Nov 30, 2013

Praise the Sun!

Total Clam
I'm out birding every day so far for the bird count, I wish I could better identify birds by song. I realize that online guides have playable bird songs, but does anybody know of something like an ID game?

BeastOfExmoor
Aug 19, 2003

I will be gone, but not forever.

Agrinja posted:

I'm out birding every day so far for the bird count, I wish I could better identify birds by song. I realize that online guides have playable bird songs, but does anybody know of something like an ID game?

Ebird has something like this, although it's been a while since I've used it so I'm not sure how well it works. It leverages their occurrence data to ideally present you with the most likely birds possible for the location and date you choose.

https://ebird.org/quiz/

Agrinja
Nov 30, 2013

Praise the Sun!

Total Clam
Thank you! I'll give that a try, I already have an eBird account.

Lead out in cuffs
Sep 18, 2012

"That's right. We've evolved."

"I can see that. Cool mutations."




Lol it decided to snow here today, so I'm just doing a quick count from out of our house. Our hummingbird has been at the feeder, and the northern flickers have been hanging out, so there's that. But the little ones are lying low.

BetterLekNextTime
Jul 22, 2008

It's all a matter of perspective...
Grimey Drawer

Agrinja posted:

I'm out birding every day so far for the bird count, I wish I could better identify birds by song. I realize that online guides have playable bird songs, but does anybody know of something like an ID game?

I think there might be a Cornell Bird Academy for this, but I'm not sure if it's free.

I did one count yesterday and one today, both from a small monastery with a little trail that's right by my house. Yesterday I went at mid-morning and today I headed out after lunch. 10 more species yesterday, but interestingly I had maybe 5 species today that I didn't get yesterday.

BeastOfExmoor
Aug 19, 2003

I will be gone, but not forever.

Agrinja posted:

Thank you! I'll give that a try, I already have an eBird account.

I hope you have a good experience with it. I tried it really quick after posting and had a weird assortment of choices. Northern Harrier (which I've never heard call), a Marsh Wren sound I've never heard, and a Song Sparrow call that was from a bird migrating nocturnally.

Lead out in cuffs posted:

Lol it decided to snow here today, so I'm just doing a quick count from out of our house. Our hummingbird has been at the feeder, and the northern flickers have been hanging out, so there's that. But the little ones are lying low.

Are you in the PNW? Our little birds are crowded thick under the feeders in the snow. I also live next to a large river and the river bank is the only ground not covered with snow so I've seen a flock of American Pipits and a Spotted Sandpiper over there today. Twerk crew, I guess.

Edit: And a Greater Yellowlegs, 3 Wilson's Snipe, and some Killdeer.

BeastOfExmoor fucked around with this message at 02:14 on Feb 14, 2021

Agrinja
Nov 30, 2013

Praise the Sun!

Total Clam
It's a little wonky but I don't think I'm getting hurt by learning more birds anyway.

BetterLekNextTime
Jul 22, 2008

It's all a matter of perspective...
Grimey Drawer
Yard count this morning, 23 minutes, 19 species. Nothing unusual but the best birds were a Lincoln's Sparrow in with the White/Golden crowns and flyover Western Bluebird (1) and Cedar Waxwing (6).

BetterLekNextTime
Jul 22, 2008

It's all a matter of perspective...
Grimey Drawer
One more count today, 30 species in my neighborhood including a couple new ones for the weekend (White-throated Sparrow and Hutton's Vireo).

And some photos

Gyuto Fox Sparrow-0764 on Flickr

Gyuto Fox Sparrow-0481 on Flickr

Gyuto GC Sparrow-0734 on Flickr

Gyuto Song Sparrow-0534 on Flickr

Gyuto Spotted Towhee-0520 on Flickr

Gyuto Red-tail-0390 on Flickr

Gyuto Oak Titmouse-0359 on Flickr

Agrinja
Nov 30, 2013

Praise the Sun!

Total Clam
That's awesome! At this time of year I suspect I'd have to travel a bit to see so many new species.

Agrinja
Nov 30, 2013

Praise the Sun!

Total Clam
On my commute home as soon as I pulled into my neighborhood a red tail hawk came down and landed nearby with a prey item. Some sort of small bird I couldn't identify it, but hawk! That was so cool, I wish I could have gotten photos.

Enfys
Feb 17, 2013

The ocean is calling and I must go

Agrinja posted:

On my commute home as soon as I pulled into my neighborhood a red tail hawk came down and landed nearby with a prey item. Some sort of small bird I couldn't identify it, but hawk! That was so cool, I wish I could have gotten photos.

That's a nice way to end a work day

my cat is norris
Mar 11, 2010

#onecallcat


There is now one egg for sure and it's delightful!

charliebravo77
Jun 11, 2003

I've been searching for birds of prey lately. Found some short-eared owls back in December and then went out to the Mississippi River yesterday to look for bald eagles.





















Lead out in cuffs
Sep 18, 2012

"That's right. We've evolved."

"I can see that. Cool mutations."




BeastOfExmoor posted:

I hope you have a good experience with it. I tried it really quick after posting and had a weird assortment of choices. Northern Harrier (which I've never heard call), a Marsh Wren sound I've never heard, and a Song Sparrow call that was from a bird migrating nocturnally.


Are you in the PNW? Our little birds are crowded thick under the feeders in the snow. I also live next to a large river and the river bank is the only ground not covered with snow so I've seen a flock of American Pipits and a Spotted Sandpiper over there today. Twerk crew, I guess.

Edit: And a Greater Yellowlegs, 3 Wilson's Snipe, and some Killdeer.

Yeah we also have a four-month-old, so watching from the house is about the extent of what I could do. I did at least get a positive ID on the neighbourhood downy woodpecker on my way back from the gym one day that week, though.

But yeah, I finally got a feeder up -- one of those tail-support suet feeders that are good for woodpeckers. We also put out a hummingbird feeder a few weeks before. We've had a few regulars, so I've started giving them names.

This is George:


I'm calling the female Northen flicker Margaret. She's also on the feeder often, but apparently I only have photos of George.


And this is Henrietta:


And this is a mess of "tiny balls of fluff with long tails that never stop moving", to quote the Merlin app:



When Henrietta first saw the bushtits she stopped dead by the suet feeder and hovered, as if to say "whaaaat is this nonsense?"



The only problem with this setup is that the neighbourhood European starling flock also uses the suet feeder. But I've read that they don't like suet with no seeds in it, so when I've finished the ten-pack of seedy suet, I'll switch to the plain stuff, and hopefully discourage them.


charliebravo77 those pics are fantastic.

Enfys
Feb 17, 2013

The ocean is calling and I must go

Lead out in cuffs posted:


And this is a mess of "tiny balls of fluff with long tails that never stop moving", to quote the Merlin app:



When Henrietta first saw the bushtits she stopped dead by the suet feeder and hovered, as if to say "whaaaat is this nonsense?"



The only problem with this setup is that the neighbourhood European starling flock also uses the suet feeder. But I've read that they don't like suet with no seeds in it, so when I've finished the ten-pack of seedy suet, I'll switch to the plain stuff, and hopefully discourage them.



so many :kimchi:

My local starlings haven't heard the news about not liking suet without seeds and will gobble up any and all suet without discrimination, but hopefully yours won't like it.

Corla Plankun
May 8, 2007

improve the lives of everyone
What do y'all reckon happened here?

This was taken in Austin, TX last month during the big Ice Cataclysm.



The lil footprint on the bottom makes me think that maybe a frog got scooped up by a screech owl, but I have no experience identifying anything even remotely relevant to snowprints.

Finger Prince
Jan 5, 2007


Corla Plankun posted:

What do y'all reckon happened here?

This was taken in Austin, TX last month during the big Ice Cataclysm.



The lil footprint on the bottom makes me think that maybe a frog got scooped up by a screech owl, but I have no experience identifying anything even remotely relevant to snowprints.

Someone definitely went for some takeout. Given the lack of prints in the snow, probably some small bird got got by a bigger bird, or bigger bird missed and small bird escaped.

my cat is norris
Mar 11, 2010

#onecallcat

Frogs wouldn't be out in the snow. I think those "legs" are just more marks from wings?

I saw a female bufflehead on the river today. I've never seen one outside of migratory groups before, so it was exciting for me. She went diving a few times!

FAUXTON
Jun 2, 2005

spero che tu stia bene

incessant goose honks, must be fuckin march in the plains

Owlkill
Jul 1, 2009
Thought I'd share a few shots I've taken recently having picked up a secondhand bridge camera, mostly for ID-ing purposes. Just moved somewhere that actually has outdoor space and my home office is perfect for taking ad hoc snaps of our feeders.

Mostly we get tits of various sorts, blackbirds and robins at the feeders, but there's a couple of blackcaps that visit too.



The Marty Feldman of the bird world



Blackborb



I'd always thought Dunnocks were quite shy but they seem to be some of the noisiest singers and boldest posers I encounter.

Lead out in cuffs
Sep 18, 2012

"That's right. We've evolved."

"I can see that. Cool mutations."




Enfys posted:

so many :kimchi:

My local starlings haven't heard the news about not liking suet without seeds and will gobble up any and all suet without discrimination, but hopefully yours won't like it.

Thanks!

Lol if that doesn't work my next plan is to get a Jetson Nano, hook it up to a squirt gun, and train it to recognise and squirt water at the starlings only.

My PIN is 4826
Aug 30, 2003

Hello, I have European Robins nesting in the garden this spring :3:



(zoom for discreet spying bird)

Owlkill
Jul 1, 2009

My PIN is 4826 posted:

Hello, I have European Robins nesting in the garden this spring :3:



(zoom for discreet spying bird)

Nice! I've just put up a box in the hopes of luring robins to nest but I'm not holding out hope as next door have just got a very barky puppy.

I love the little head poking up- what an uncharacteristically shy robin.

dupersaurus
Aug 1, 2012

Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'
(one of) My quarantine projects has been setting up a raspberry pi-powered bird feeder cam. I've gotten it to the point where it's only taking empty pictures of the swinging feeder 50% of the time, and now I'm trying to get some machine learning going to reduce those false-positives.

I've captured some pretty good shots, and a bunch of goofy dudes




And a few action shots, but unfortunately these are usually just caught by the low-res preview images

Enfys
Feb 17, 2013

The ocean is calling and I must go

dupersaurus posted:

(one of) My quarantine projects has been setting up a raspberry pi-powered bird feeder cam. I've gotten it to the point where it's only taking empty pictures of the swinging feeder 50% of the time, and now I'm trying to get some machine learning going to reduce those false-positives.

I've captured some pretty good shots, and a bunch of goofy dudes




:tutbutt:

H110Hawk
Dec 28, 2006

dupersaurus posted:

(one of) My quarantine projects has been setting up a raspberry pi-powered bird feeder cam. I've gotten it to the point where it's only taking empty pictures of the swinging feeder 50% of the time, and now I'm trying to get some machine learning going to reduce those false-positives.

I've captured some pretty good shots, and a bunch of goofy dudes




And a few action shots, but unfortunately these are usually just caught by the low-res preview images



Uh, got a parts list / code repo? This is something I want to do...

FAUXTON
Jun 2, 2005

spero che tu stia bene

H110Hawk posted:

Uh, got a parts list / code repo? This is something I want to do...

same, this looks loving awesome

dupersaurus
Aug 1, 2012

Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

H110Hawk posted:

Uh, got a parts list / code repo? This is something I want to do...

FAUXTON posted:

same, this looks loving awesome

I need to get some clean up done on the code first (I'll try to do that this weekend, been meaning to do it for a bit), but for parts:

Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, 4GB is what I have and is all I can vouch for. If this is your first one it's probably best to get a starter kit. I started with this one since the case has an integrated mount for the basic camera (more on that later), but if you want to avoid Amazon the official site has links to sites, and they all have various kits. My local Best Buy sells them, too. What you don't need (unless you want) are any development kits for doing electronics work.

Raspberry Pi Camera Module there are two options:
  • Standard 8MP is what I started with, and is what fits into the case of the starter kit I linked. It's an alright camera, however it's focus is fixed to a distance that's too far away for how wide the lens is. There is a tool you can use to change the focus (and my starter kit might have come with one, I discovered that I had one from somewhere later on), but it's a bit fiddly. It's fine to test the waters, but if you want to stick with it you'll want to upgrade real quick to...
  • High-Quality 12MP is what I use. 50% more pixels, bigger pixels, and swappable lenses. My workhorse is the 16mm telephoto (85mm equivalent on a 35mm), which both of my pictures were taken with. There are a bunch of different sizes, but be wary. I got a 35mm and 50mm which should have been nice, but for some reason they seem to mess up the white balance always leave a red tint.

The final form of this is probably using the standard camera to monitor the feeder, and then have a Real Camera set up separately that the raspi can trigger, but I don't know how feasible that is. One of my big persistent problems is setting focus since there's no auto-focus for any of the raspi cameras.

Storage The usual raspi setup is to have the OS on a bootable SD card, and it's good practice not to be constantly writing to it. So I got a really tiny flash drive that all of the pictures get saved to.

Power If you get a kit it will probably come with a wall brick that plugs into the USB-C port, but I just use a big battery. You just need to make sure it puts out enough juice, I've noticed that it sometimes has voltage issues with a smaller battery I have.

Mounting The case in my starter kit has an integrated 1/4-20 tripod mount. The HQ camera does not have a case mount, but it also has an integrated tripod mount. BUT I paid someone to 3D print this snazzy case for me, which connects the board and the HQ camera together. I haven't tackled weather-proofing yet, but I think that HQ case could be modified for that. I stick mine to a gopro clamp mount I have, and clamp it to my deck railing

H110Hawk
Dec 28, 2006

dupersaurus posted:

I need to get some clean up done on the code first (I'll try to do that this weekend, been meaning to do it for a bit), but for parts:

Neat, thanks for the list. Unless your code has credentials in it: :justpost: No one is going to judge your weekend project for not passing a linter.

How far from the lens is your subject? Eyeballing it I'm around 6-10' from the porch to mine. How long does your battery last?

This seems like the ideal setup for me because our feeders are in the front yard, so anything more expensive / fancy looking would likely get stolen.

dupersaurus
Aug 1, 2012

Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

H110Hawk posted:

Neat, thanks for the list. Unless your code has credentials in it: :justpost: No one is going to judge your weekend project for not passing a linter.

How far from the lens is your subject? Eyeballing it I'm around 6-10' from the porch to mine. How long does your battery last?

This seems like the ideal setup for me because our feeders are in the front yard, so anything more expensive / fancy looking would likely get stolen.

Ooookay
birbcam for taking the pictures
birbserver for viewing the pictures from afar.

Mostly right now it's too much stuff hard-coded to my environment, plus some documentation. The camera still needs a fair amount of hand-holding, so you'll probably want to keep it in wifi range, or use the WLAN onboard the raspi

20k mah is more than enough for a day, and most of a second

I'd say the 16mm is pretty good between 2'-5', beyond that you probably want to step it up. Those longer lenses I mentioned are this 35mm and this 50mm, but it's hard for me to recommend them until I figure out the white balance problem; hopefully it just has to do with how the shot is framed, but I haven't yet sat down and really tried to figure it out. [EDIT] turns out it's a camera calibration issue, and requires compiling and replacing the Pi camera calibration, gently caress

This is the 6mm and the 16mm from appox 2-3' (the second is what I posted earlier, uncropped)


This is the 35mm and the 50mm from approx 8', and you can see the tint. I need to try them out on a good sunny day


Thrasher butt came from the 16mm from ~18". The best angle I have, but it's hard to get the front and the sides in focus

dupersaurus fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Mar 12, 2021

BRAKE FOR MOOSE
Jun 6, 2001

Next you have to incorporate photo ID (is Merlin OA?) to automatically log every visitor to your feeder.

dupersaurus
Aug 1, 2012

Futurism was an art movement where dudes were all 'CARS ARE COOL AND THE PAST IS FOR CHUMPS. LET'S DRAW SOME CARS.'

BRAKE FOR MOOSE posted:

Next you have to incorporate photo ID (is Merlin OA?) to automatically log every visitor to your feeder.

That's the current project!

For anyone that wants to try it out, this weekend I cleaned the app up and posted a README to the repo: https://github.com/jdpdev/birbcam/

Ratjaculation
Aug 3, 2007

:parrot::parrot::parrot:



Ive been looking back through some photos from when we were allowed to travel, and found the rhinoceros hornbill I spotted in Taman Negara, Malaysia.

Taken from far away in the rain, but still pretty proud I saw it!

H110Hawk
Dec 28, 2006
So a chukar was in our garage tonight. In Los Angeles County.

my cat is norris
Mar 11, 2010

#onecallcat

An escapee from the zoo? Someone's pet? :psyduck:

Finger Prince
Jan 5, 2007


my cat is norris posted:

An escapee from the zoo? Someone's pet? :psyduck:

Introduced game bird, according to Wikipedia.

waffy
Oct 31, 2010
Yeah, I’ve even see one or two chukars reported in Pennsylvania before, although according to eBird the western US population seems more well established. Still seems pretty funny to find one in your garage though.

There was one day I did a double take because an ostrich showed up on my rare bird alert email. I guess it was being transported or something and it happened to be standing or walking along a road at some point, so someone jokingly reported it with a photo and everything. Seemed like the eBird reviewers got rid of that real fast. :v:

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Fitzy Fitz
May 14, 2005




An emu showed up in my friend's backyard one day. In Georgia. I think it freaked them out a bit. Must have escaped from a farm nearby.

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