The Networked Bird Observatory Blog

Here are some of my favorite shots from the last few days:

birdbrain got this great shot of a snake (a diamondback rattlesnake, maybe? any herpetology experts want to chime in?) back on July 30:

After a long dry spell, several users have taken photos of Wild Turkeys lately, including this shot with two turkeys by kryptonkay on July 31:

Today (actually, yesterday now; August 1), tinyang got this shot of a bird that’s a real mystery for me. I’m really not sure what to make of it. An Inca Dove in an unusual body position, maybe? Are those white feathers on the tail?

Several photos were taken yesterday of a female Cardinal feeding a begging Bronzed Cowbird, including this great shot by rafa:

I didn’t realize that Bronzed Cowbirds were nest parasites, just like Brown-headed Cowbirds, but according to Wikipedia, all cowbirds are nest parasites. So it looks like this is a shot of a fledgling begging for food from its adoptive mother.

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the last few days.

On the night of July 3, avatar99 got what I think is the best shot so far of the Barred Owl:

A number of us have been getting shots of frogs in the pond. Here’s a nice one taken on the Fourth of July by leacox:

Finally, this afternoon rafa got a couple of shots of the male Painted Bunting that I think are the best shots anyone has obtained of him with CONE Welder yet:

Those are pretty spectacular, but if you want some real Painted Bunting fireworks, check out these two shots that user Sabine on the Steve’s Digicams site uploaded back on July 1:

I really love the views we get with CONE Welder, but it sometimes takes a shot like these, or better yet, a trip out in the field with my binoculars (like the visit I paid this afternoon to the Carpinteria Bluffs, where I got to watch a Black Oystercatcher bathing in a tidepool), to remind me of how neat birds really look.

I’ve wondered several times if we were going to get frogs in the pond. And now we have!

Here are shots by avatar99, avatar99, and vanilla, respectively, taken late yesterday and in the wee hours this morning:

Congratulations on a new species!

Back on June 29 one of the CONE Welder users emailed me to report that a White-tailed Deer fawn had died, and players had been photographing its body with the camera. In her email she sounded upset, and wanted to know if I knew anyone’s phone number at Welder so they could be alerted to the situation.

I forwarded her email to Dr. Selma Glasscock. She replied shortly thereafter saying she would check it out, and mentioning that she doesn’t monitor the camera regularly. She also wrote the following:

One thing that ‘watchers’ should be aware of is that this is not a ‘park’ where animals are protected against nature. It is a wildlife refuge where nature happens. I wish there was some way to educate the public about the realities of nature.

I know I’m as guilty as the next person of anthropomorphizing the cute little “Bambis” that have been wandering around the camera the last month or so, and I’m sad to see that this one died. But I think Dr. Glasscock has a point, and I’m not sure it’s wrong of people to have photographed the dead fawn.

I didn’t see any of the images of this until after the fact, when I noticed that we had a new ID in the game: Turkey Vulture. Here are some of the images users took. I’ve taken the unusual (for me) step of putting some of these images (ones that include the dead fawn) “after the break” below; you’ll need to click through to see those images, if you want to. That way users who would prefer not to see them can avoid doing so.

Oh, but first, I wanted to post the following images that were taken this morning by vanilla:

So life at CONE Welder goes on, and while it’s certainly sad to be confronted by the reality of death, I remind myself that it’s part of the natural cycle that includes us all.

Anyway, here are some shots of the Turkey Vultures. The first is by avatar99, the second is by rafa:

Additional photos (including the dead fawn) after the jump, below.

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So, I apologize (again) for being lax about posting updates lately.

Here are some interesting shots from the last few days. avatar99 got this great shot of a male Bronzed Cowbird doing his “fluff up and look menacing” behavior back on June 30:

There have been several appearances by the Great Kiskadee (which I still haven’t seen myself; I’ve gotta spend more time on the camera), including one that produced this very nice shot from loughman1 on June 30:

idbirds got this cool shot of a dragonfly on July 1:

redheadedwp got this really interesting (and a little bit off-putting) photo of a bunch of insects and a spider (I think?) on July 2:

I think what’s going on there is that we got one of those rare shots where the camera focuses extremely close, and we get to see what’s crawling around on the camera housing itself.

Finally, in case any of you were wondering where I’ve been, I’ve been spending most of my available after-work time working on my daughter’s and my entry in the Weepies’ “Hideaway” video contest. It’s not really relevant to CONE Welder, but it does have three different bird species in it.

Remember the pregnant white-tail doe we’ve been watching since the camera went live? I don’t think she’s pregnant any more. Check out these shots taken this morning by birdbrain and rafa:

birdbrain wrote in the comment accompanying that first photo:

Bambi happily exploring the area (no parents visible) … running and hiding in tall clumps of grass from time to time…. A natural instinct for survival. Absolutely amazing!!

Here are some of my favorite non-bird shots taken in the last few days.

rafa got this shot of a mama Javelina and what looks like a fairly young piglet:

achadamaia was one of several users to get a shot of this cute little rodent (not sure about the species; it doesn’t appear to be a choice in the available IDs):

Finally, user califas got this very cool close-up of an unidentified insect:

Any bug experts on the blog want to help with an ID?