Friday at the Flicks - Frogs

 


They arrived last weekend, all gone again by Tuesday leaving 14 clumps of spawn.




I'm still trying to make my mind up which bird can be heard near the end.

The Climbing Wren

I often see a Wren hopping around the garden investigating all the planters looking for food but this is the first time I have seen one walk up a vertical pole, in this case a bamboo cane.





I only had time for a couple of hurried shots as Wrens don't stay in one place for very long. It would have been great to have videoed it as it walked straight up the cane without any effort.

Wordless Wednesday

Eyes a Watching You

Last weekend the frogs arrived in the garden pond.

Monday Mystery - Guess What

I did wonder whether anyone would manage last week's mystery photo. As it happens I send my congratulations and the virtual Midmarsh Gold Star to The Weaver of Grass, Wilma, Glo and Ragged Robin who saw that it was part of a coat hanger:





Right, let us see how well you can identify this close view of an object.
Guess What:


Please leave any guesses in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the answer, next Monday.
No prizes. Just for fun and possibly a virtual Midmarsh Gold or Silver Star.

Song Thrush Serenade - Video

Returning from our early morning walkies I could hear the deafening sound of a Song Thrush which must have been very close. After a cautious walk round the garden I spotted it high up in a tree next door. I half expected it to fly away as soon as I set up the camera but for once it stayed in view though I did have to move the camera when the Thrush decided to change trees:



Clips two and three also have loud House Sparrows as they were in a bush next to me while the Song Thrush was about 100 feet away.

First Extended Time Lapse Experiment

On Thursday afternoon I started a first test run for a long duration time lapse video. As I was checking the apples I keep for the Blackbirds I noticed a couple going bad. That gave me the idea of cutting a good one one in half and filming it over several days, one shot every 10 minutes.

That is 6 each hour, 144 photos each day. Each day of shooting producing about 5 seconds of video. The camera card should hold 1,150 photos which may well not be enough, about 8 days worth. I may have to reduce the picture quality a little, buy a larger card or lengthen the time lapse.

The first set up:



The 12V battery is on the left next to the topless grey box containing the Arduino Nano and associated electronics with a 2 digit display to show how many minutes between shots. It is now programmable from 1 to 60 minutes delay in whole minutes. That switches on three 12V LED lamps for each photo and fires the 350D.

After a short test I decided too much daylight was reaching the subject so I rearranged things with the apple inside an upturned cardboard box which should help keep the lighting from the three 12V LED lamps more even day and night.

 

Only time, a long time, will tell how successful it has been. and whether the battery will last long enough. No problem with the camera as that is powered from a mains adaptor. The lamps are the largest drain on the battery but they are only on for 2 seconds for each photo.

This morning I checked the battery and its voltage had dropped a bit below 11V so the light from the LED lamps had lessened. Fortunately I was able to find a 12V 1A power supply to replace the battery.