Tag: American Crow

Saturday (13-February-2021) — New Jersey

Wintertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Day 2 of the 2021 Great Backyard Bird Count.

Visitors to the birdfeeder (07:28-07:59): Mourning Dove, Black Vulture, Carolina Wren, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Visitors to the backyard and birdfeeder (08:00-08:29): Mourning Dove, American Crow, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, House Finch, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Visitors to the backyard and birdfeeder (08:30-08:59): Turkey Vulture, Carolina Wren, House Finch, Northern Cardinal.


. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Visitors to the backyard (09:00-09:29): American Crow.


Backyard. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Visitors to the backyard and birdfeeder (09:30-09:59): American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, European Starling, American Goldfinch, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Visitors to the backyard and birdfeeder (10:00-10:59): Black-capped Chickadee, European Starling, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Visitors to the backyard and birdfeeder (11:00-11:59): Black Vulture, Turkey Vulture, American Crow, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, Northern Cardinal.


. Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Visitors to the backyard and birdfeeder (12:00-12:59): Cooper’s Hawk, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Carolina Wren, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Visitors to the backyard and birdfeeder (14:00-14:59): Tufted Titmouse, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Visitors to the backyard and birdfeeder (16:00-16:59): White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (92.4 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (0.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. The solar panels totally covered with snow. Geothermal HVAC system on. A deficit of 92.4 kWh.

Saturday (13-February-2021) — New Jersey

Wintertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Day 2 of the 2021 Great Backyard Bird Count.

Several times during the morning bird count the small birds all flew away from the birdfeeder. Finally, I noticed a Cooper’s Hawk perched on a tree in the backyard. Soon thereafter a murder of American Crows started harassing the Cooper’s Hawk. The hawk finally flew away allowing the small birds to return to the birdfeeder.

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Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii). Image taken with a Fuji X-H1 camera and 100-400 mm OIS lens (ISO 250, 400 mm, f/5.6, 1/500 sec).. (David J Mathre)


American Crows harassing Cooper’s Hawk. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

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Cooper’s Hawk flying away. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (92.4 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (0.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. The solar panels totally covered with snow. Geothermal HVAC system on. A deficit of 92.4 kWh.

Friday (12-February-2021) — New Jersey

Wintertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey. Day 1 of the 2021 Great Backyard Bird Count.

Visitors to the birdfeeder (07:48-08:26): Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Carolina Wren, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Visitors to the backyard and birdfeeder (10:04-10:39): Turkey Vulture, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, White-breasted Nuthatch, Carolina Wren, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Visitors to the backyard and birdfeeder (13:32-13:47): European Starling, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Visitors to the backyard and birdfeeder (14:35-14:50): Turkey Vulture, Black-capped Chickadee, European Starling, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Visitors to the backyard and birdfeeder (15:59-16:29): Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, European Starling, House Finch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (98.4 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (0.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. The solar panels totally covered with snow. Geothermal HVAC system on. A deficit of 98.4 kWh.

Friday (18-December-2020) — New Jersey

Autumn Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

Visitors to the birdfeeder: Red-tailed Hawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, American Crow, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Dark-eyed Junco, White-throated Sparrow, Northern Cardinal.


Backyard Birdfeeder. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Daily Electric Energy Used (79.5 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (3.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Solar panels covered with snow. Geothermal HVAC system on. A deficit of 76.5 kWh.

Thursday (17-September-2020) — New Jersey

Summertime Backyard Nature in New Jersey.

I noticed several articles on the net about scientists testing the 3,200 megapixel camera for the Vera Rubin Observatory’s telescope by taking an image of a Romanesco broccoli. It didn’t look like the Broccoli that I am familiar with but was fascinated by the Fractal pattern. Romanesco broccoli was available online at Whole Foods so I ordered one for my weekly grocery delivery. It looks more like a Cauliflower, but green with Fractal like towers. I used it to create my version of a high-resolution focus-stacked image. I set up a Leica SL2 camera with a 50 mm f/1.4 lens on a tripod with a 10 cm focusing rail. The SL2 camera has the capability to take 187 megapixel images using pixel shifting technology via a Multishot mode (available after a Firmware 2.0 update). I took 87 high-resolution images (ISO 50, 50 mm, f/1.4, 1/10 sec) moving the camera forward in ~1 mm intervals. This resulted in 16,269 megapixels of data. The images were processed with Capture One Pro and then Helicon Focus to afford the following focus-stacked (12510 x 10008 pixel, 717 MB) images. The images is in focus for the full depth of the Romanesco broccoli. I love the natural Fractal patterns. You can see that there are some sections where black mold has started growing. Now to clean it up and figure out how to cook it for dinner.

High-Resolution Focus Stacked image of Romanesco Broccoli. (David J Mathre)
Romanesco broccoli. Composite of 87 focus-stacked images taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 50 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 50, 50 mm, f/1.4, 1/10 sec, multi-shot mode). Images processed with Capture One Pro and Helicon Focus (Method A (contrast), Radius 8, Smoothing 4). (David J Mathre)
High-Resolution Focus Stacked image of Romanesco Broccoli. (David J Mathre)
Romanesco broccoli. Composite of 87 focus-stacked images taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 50 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 50, 50 mm, f/1.4, 1/10 sec, multi-shot mode). Images processed with Capture One Pro and Helicon Focus (Method B (Depth Map), Radius 8, Smoothing 4). (David J Mathre)
High-Resolution Focus Stacked image of Romanesco Broccoli. (David J Mathre)
Romanesco broccoli. Composite of 87 focus-stacked images taken with a Leica SL2 camera and 50 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 50, 50 mm, f/1.4, 1/10 sec, multi-shot mode). Images processed with Capture One Pro and Helicon Focus (Method C (Pyramid), Smoothing 4). (David J Mathre)


High-Resolution Focus Stacked image of Romanesco Broccoli cropped 1x, 2x, 4x, 16x, 32x. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Morning at the Birdfeeders: Mourning Dove, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Blue Jay, American Crow, Black-capped Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, White-breasted Nuthatch, Gray Catbird, House Finch, American Goldfinch, Song Sparrow, Northern Cardinal, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.


Afternoon at the Birdfeeders. Individual images in the slideshow are available in my PhotoShelter Gallery.

Contact me if you are interested in a Time-lapse Video of this session at the Birdfeeders. My setup for the birdfeeder images is a Nikon D850 camera and 200 mm f/2 VR lens set to take one image every 5 seconds over a 5 hour period (~3600 images). The new time-lapse video format is 720p (1080 x 720 pixels) and 1 frame/second. The length of the video is about 1 hour in a 1 GB MP4 file. The previous time-lapse videos of the birdfeeders were at 12 frames/second, and to be honest were too fast to identify the birds.

Daily Electric Energy Used (34.9 kWh) from Sense. Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (35.0 kWh) from Sense and SolSystems. Sun and clouds. A surplus of 0.1 kWh.