tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73744778185703973932024-03-13T18:28:31.749-04:00Infrared BirdingFinding birds and mammals with thermal infrared.Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-76431239709894053472020-04-01T23:03:00.000-04:002020-04-01T23:04:28.445-04:00Red Fox<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Around midnight last night, a very loud howl/scream/yelp could be heard outside, coming from the small parking lot in the middle of our cluster of townhouses. I went outside with my thermal infrared camera and soon found this red fox. It seemed unafraid standing in a dark patch of grass, where I could see nothing with my naked eyes.<br />
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Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-76494824721712808262017-05-02T11:36:00.000-04:002017-10-11T15:04:44.847-04:00Why Grouse?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Prelude</h2>
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On this spring overcast morning I visited a grove of spruce trees on Dodge Road known to harbor owls. On arrival I could hear the complaints of a mob of crows, and after a short walk along the road my ThermApp found this hotspot:</div>
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My binoculars confirmed it to be a Great Horned Owl. Alas, in spite of its well hidden position pretty deep and high in the woods, it seemed not to like my attention and took off before I could get a photograph.<br />
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Ruffed Grouse</h2>
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I drove on to Monkey Run South, an area where a ruffed grouse had been displaying very loudly for the past few weeks, though after an initial sighting by some lucky birders it managed to stay invisible in the thickets. But it could not hide from my ThermApp, which soon found this warm lump in the forest floor:</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2Lkffpmn0g/WQilK84cuKI/AAAAAAAACeI/h9LTFBQGqE8nhgj2-ni73J6vF4Ygh7UBwCEw/s1600/0101-grouse-sxs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I2Lkffpmn0g/WQilK84cuKI/AAAAAAAACeI/h9LTFBQGqE8nhgj2-ni73J6vF4Ygh7UBwCEw/s640/0101-grouse-sxs.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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Here's a closeup:</div>
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And here's a video of the lump skulking away from view:</div>
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I walked around to find it hiding at a different spot, this time closer to the trail but in even thicker brush:</div>
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This bird could be heard drumming loudly each time I was out of view, but never when I was able to see it even with the thermal. I was hoping to get footage of its drumming, but that will have to wait for a less cautious individual, or I may need to invest in a blind.</div>
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Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com3Dryden, NY, USA42.462663119598069 -76.42707824707031242.459734619598066 -76.432120747070314 42.465591619598072 -76.422035747070311tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-85821856769972769062016-08-29T20:05:00.001-04:002017-10-11T15:06:40.735-04:00An Unexpected Find<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On a cloudy summer day I explored the new Logan Hill Preserve with my ThermApp. Much like a typical outing in the woods with a thermal camera, you quickly run across a squirrel or a chipmunk:<br />
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Shortly thereafter, the camera found this much larger hotspot high in a distant tree:<br />
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It's hard to tell for sure, but it looks like a raccoon:<br />
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Here's another view of that same probable raccoon:<br />
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There were certainly other raccoons in those woods, as I soon had this guy come traipsing down a log, seemingly unaware of my presence.<br />
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Anytime you're in a forest with cavitied trees and a healthy population of rodents, you come across warm spots like this:<br />
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I have no idea what's in there, but that space between the bark and the trunk of the dead tree certainly looks like a good resting spot for some critter.<br />
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Here's another such warm spot in a fallen tree:<br />
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Bringing up my binoculars, I saw a strange face staring back at me, so I got closer:<br />
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Can you tell what it is from that thermal image?<br />
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When using my ThermApp to seek out wildlife, I'm always looking for warm spots, because those are what stand out against the background. But in this case, the face staring back at me was a toad, and it is colder, not warmer, than the surrounding. (More precisely, it is approximately the same temperature as the surrounding, being "cold-blooded" and all.)<br />
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So I guess it was just a coincidence that while investigating a warm spot in a tree I happened to locate this cold-blooded animal instead. Or, you could also conclude that that toad decided to hang out in that cubby precisely because it is slightly warmer than its surroundings! Meanwhile, the source of that warmth, either some critter deeper inside that log, or perhaps just wood rot, remains unknown.<br />
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Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com6Candor, NY, USA42.216580723865555 -76.34106240898444242.193063223865558 -76.381402908984441 42.240098223865552 -76.300721908984443tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-41532958479629732692016-05-21T12:00:00.000-04:002017-06-28T11:54:37.103-04:00Virginia Rails<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
When you visit the <a href="http://www.fws.gov/refuge/montezuma/" target="_blank">Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge</a> in upstate New York, one of the first things you see along the wildlife drive is this marsh thick with cattails:<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Da0rqATxCBM/V0WtK5qhftI/AAAAAAAACCs/BU5dTjijIwM9HQIQt8v6du_-MlF1Pj3NwCLcB/s1600/s0410-reeds.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Da0rqATxCBM/V0WtK5qhftI/AAAAAAAACCs/BU5dTjijIwM9HQIQt8v6du_-MlF1Pj3NwCLcB/s400/s0410-reeds.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here's a thermal infrared image focused on one part of the marsh:<br />
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Notice the white spot near the middle? (It's easier to see if you click above for an enlarged view.)<br />
Zoomed in with a high-power lens, you see this:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QtKWCmufZWk/V0WtKpz-QUI/AAAAAAAACCc/GmtWv-FkM2IU79M39yHLnLb1wKxmWmZmgCKgB/s1600/c2142-rwbl-nest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QtKWCmufZWk/V0WtKpz-QUI/AAAAAAAACCc/GmtWv-FkM2IU79M39yHLnLb1wKxmWmZmgCKgB/s400/c2142-rwbl-nest.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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It is the nest of a red-winged blackbird, with a female sitting on it.<br />
Here's a short video of the same nest, taken with the ThermApp, but pay attention to the lower-left corner of the frame:<br />
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Did you notice a shape slinking away? That was a Virginia Rail, an elusive little bird that is seldom seen due to its secretive nature, skulking among thick marshland reeds. On this morning, with help from my ThermApp thermal camera, I was finally able to photograph one:<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DAjEWCty_Rw/V0WtKiyELPI/AAAAAAAACCk/9ALS2K3uXTkYq9mXWkbU4FCR1RPm30gFQCKgB/s1600/IMG_6579.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DAjEWCty_Rw/V0WtKiyELPI/AAAAAAAACCk/9ALS2K3uXTkYq9mXWkbU4FCR1RPm30gFQCKgB/s400/IMG_6579.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here is a longer infrared video, with two clips showing the Virginia Rail in action:<br />
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I'm not sure if you noticed, but in the "chase scene", the camera focus actually switched from bird #1 to bird #2; after the chase, we're watching bird #2 forage while bird #1 is grunting from off-screen (somewhere to the right). I hadn't noticed this switch myself when taking the video in the field.<br />
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BTW, if you're a birder, you may have noticed some interesting species singing in the background audio, including Willow Flycatcher and Blackpoll Warbler. <br />
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Here's another photo of a virginia rail, this I believe is a different bird from the first photo above.<br />
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This all happened around 11am on a day with medium-overcast skies and ambient temperatures at around 60F (15C). While there was a fair number of other warm spots in the surroundings (cattail spikes, sticks), the birds still showed up quite clearly and could be easily tracked.</div>
Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com0Montezuma NWR, NY42.971512467388493 -76.73909425735473642.970059967388494 -76.741615757354737 42.972964967388492 -76.736572757354736tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-22910983684144025952016-04-09T17:00:00.000-04:002016-04-14T13:21:05.924-04:00Red Morph<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">On an unseasonably cold April morning, I led a <a href="http://www.birds.cornell.edu/sfo" target="_blank">Spring Field Ornithology</a> group to the Lansing Center Trail. It had started to snow when we arrived, and apart from a cooperative kestrel and many song sparrows scuttling in the brush, we weren't seeing many birds. When we got to the small woodlot, I pulled out my ThermApp, and was soon alerted to this hotspot:<br />
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Having seen many such hotspots by now, I instinctively assumed it was probably just another squirrel, but the binoculars revealed a most pleasant surprise: a red-morph Eastern Screech Owl!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CBeP4RdFMXU/Vw_N7-9GnlI/AAAAAAAACBg/IKCp3BjOng8Uc324psLSvZzUHbSzSOlMQCKgB/s1600/s2332-screech.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CBeP4RdFMXU/Vw_N7-9GnlI/AAAAAAAACBg/IKCp3BjOng8Uc324psLSvZzUHbSzSOlMQCKgB/s400/s2332-screech.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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I did not have my good camera with me at the time, so I returned later, after the snow had abated and the sun had started appearing, to take the two photos above.<br />
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Meanwhile, here's a random Therm-App image of the road leading to my house, showing a number of Dark-Eyed Juncos foraging by the road.<br />
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</div>Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com2Lansing, NY, USA42.541729961331114 -76.4953136444091842.538804961331117 -76.500356144409182 42.544654961331112 -76.490271144409178tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-22259843916267156462016-03-27T20:00:00.000-04:002016-04-16T13:21:21.210-04:00Woodcock Sky Dance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Background</h2>
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The American Woodcock has got to be Mother Nature's most ridiculous concoction. With its oddly-placed eyes and grotesquely long bill, its appearance alone nominates it as candidate for goofiest-looking creature alive.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Scolopax_minor_Ninigret_NWR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Scolopax_minor_Ninigret_NWR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AScolopax_minor_Ninigret_NWR.jpg" target="_blank">Wikimedia Commons</a> </td></tr>
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When it walks, it bounces its body back and forth in a most comical way:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3BF3plsh65Y/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3BF3plsh65Y?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe> </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Source: <a href="https://youtu.be/3BF3plsh65Y" target="_blank">YouTube</a></span> </div>
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As if that weren't enough, during its mating display it makes a strange "peent" sound, like a high-pitched game show buzzer, as captured nicely in this Lang Elliott video:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4Owj52XhoxI/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4Owj52XhoxI?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe> </div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Source: <a href="https://youtu.be/4Owj52XhoxI" target="_blank">YouTube</a></span> </div>
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The "peent" is the prolog of an elaborate mating display called a "sky dance", where the bird flutters its way up high into the sky, making a continuous twitter as it ascends; the twitter eventually sputters to a peak, after which it drops erratically like a leaf, making an odd "chowp" sound as it descends, to land at its starting point. This sky dance is performed at dusk, usually when it's too dark to be seen. But with an infrared camera, we get to see what this sky-dance looks like.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
The Skydance Infrared Video</h2>
And so, without further ado, here's a thermal infrared video of a full woodcock sky dance. Listen for a soft "gulp" preceding each "peent".<br />
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In this next video, I positioned myself closer to the woodcock's stage, and was pleased when the bird landed about 30 feet away. The "gulp" preceding each "peent" is louder and more nuanced, reminiscent of a dove's cooing. What happened next was a total surprise...<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Z5IUXwRFpNo/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z5IUXwRFpNo?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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The videos were taken with a Therm-App HZ using the ThermAppPlus app, on a Nexus 7 tablet. Audio is from the Nexus 7's built-in microphone, with the volume normalized to the loudest peent. The first video uses a 19mm lens, the second a 35mm lens, which had to be manually refocused when the bird got too close to me.<br />
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The original MP4 files as recorded by ThermAppPlus are available at <a href="http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~suan/infrared/info.html">http://pages.cs.wisc.edu/~suan/infrared/info.html</a>.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
And Now For Some Fun</h2>
Here are a couple of fun YouTube woodcock remixes.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Source: <a href="https://youtu.be/bY436JiiCjg" target="_blank">YouTube</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Source: <a href="https://youtu.be/UEISiCmjwH8" target="_blank">YouTube</a></span></div>
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Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com2Ellis Hollow, NY42.437077100720913 -76.39798164367675842.431217600720913 -76.408066643676761 42.442936600720913 -76.387896643676754tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-56251248309865752092016-02-24T14:14:00.000-05:002016-06-16T14:04:16.493-04:00Squirrel and Owl<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On this pleasant winter morning, I took a stroll through the woods of Six-Mile Creek with my Therm-App. The sky was cloudy, but occasionally thinned out enough for the sun to project some warmth onto the scenery. Nonetheless, warm mammals continued to stand out in the infrared image, such as in this scene:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-un0hfVr8NnA/Vs398fAeYJI/AAAAAAAACAU/HnusMhiQMCc/s1600/squirrel-sxs2-600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-un0hfVr8NnA/Vs398fAeYJI/AAAAAAAACAU/HnusMhiQMCc/s1600/squirrel-sxs2-600.jpg" /></a></div>
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The bright spot is this squirrel, which even in this close-up photo blends pretty well with the surrounding bark:<br />
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I soon entered a thick grove of spruce trees, at which point I could hear some mobbing calls first from some blue jays, then from some crows flying in to complain vehemently before taking off. Once the commotion had passed, I made my way to a better vantage, where I found this:<br />
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It was a pretty distinct shape, of a great horned owl: <br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9iP4zzKkqg0/Vs3_WG2QcHI/AAAAAAAACAo/RTy64kVraNA/s1600/ghowl-wide-576.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9iP4zzKkqg0/Vs3_WG2QcHI/AAAAAAAACAo/RTy64kVraNA/s1600/ghowl-wide-576.jpg" /></a></div>
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Zoomed in for maximal impact:<br />
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uHqf2FrfY4E/Vs3_WGzCuEI/AAAAAAAACAk/ufXgO4y8Ydo/s1600/ghowl-close-576.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uHqf2FrfY4E/Vs3_WGzCuEI/AAAAAAAACAk/ufXgO4y8Ydo/s1600/ghowl-close-576.jpg" /></a></div>
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I tried clumsily to make my way into a clearing for better shots, but the cacophony (or possibly simple boredom) drove the bird to take to the wing and drift silently into the ravine and out of sight.<br />
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Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com0Ithaca, NY42.419338084663956 -76.459693908691442.413477084663953 -76.46977890869141 42.425199084663959 -76.4496089086914tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-57040586941581094992016-01-10T12:53:00.002-05:002016-01-10T13:00:26.043-05:00Pipits at the Lakeshore<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On this cool winter day, as I was walking along the shore of Cayuga Lake, I flushed several American Pipits, little brown birds whose color blends very well with the shingle beach. These relatively rare visitors from the north flew a short distance up the beach and disappeared amid the rocks, where it was a struggle to locate them with binoculars. One big source of frustration is even knowing whether the birds are there; they could easily have taken off unnoticed.<br />
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But they could not hide from my Therm-App. Here's a visual and infrared view of the section of beach where I thought the birds might have landed.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hnu2cZhdKKA/VpKWjoZcPlI/AAAAAAAAB_A/TrH9e4vK4mM/s1600/ir13s-7pipits-sxs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Hnu2cZhdKKA/VpKWjoZcPlI/AAAAAAAAB_A/TrH9e4vK4mM/s640/ir13s-7pipits-sxs.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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While I'd guessed that there might have been about three birds, the Therm-App showed me that there were, in fact, seven birds foraging on the beach in loose association. With some patience I was able to get this close-up of one of them.<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w0REnZvZM7M/VpKWjknusFI/AAAAAAAAB_I/2qXvB7ZoG-o/s1600/IMG_0400.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w0REnZvZM7M/VpKWjknusFI/AAAAAAAAB_I/2qXvB7ZoG-o/s400/IMG_0400.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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And here's a photo of four birds in the same frame, this after my slow approach encouraged them to gather closer to each other.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2ggwCXjQHHg/VpKWjp3ALRI/AAAAAAAAB_E/URwBv_Yf1rU/s1600/s7939-pipits-blend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2ggwCXjQHHg/VpKWjp3ALRI/AAAAAAAAB_E/URwBv_Yf1rU/s400/s7939-pipits-blend.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The flock eventually took to the sky, during which I was able to confirm a count of seven individuals.<br />
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Not far from that beach at Salt Point, I came across a nestbox that was showing some warmth:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zmRG6trLkqk/VpKWkJ27ENI/AAAAAAAAB_M/wwe24YIFLq4/s1600/s7995-nestbox-sxs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zmRG6trLkqk/VpKWkJ27ENI/AAAAAAAAB_M/wwe24YIFLq4/s400/s7995-nestbox-sxs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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A closeup photo shows some fur.<br />
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Looks like a squirrel has found itself a nice home for the winter.</div>
Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com3Salt Point, Lansing, NY42.540105457002255 -76.54937672697752842.534255957002259 -76.559461726977531 42.545954957002252 -76.539291726977524tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-51209543625242883222015-11-07T18:37:00.000-05:002016-01-10T12:58:45.613-05:00Owl Prowl<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
On the evening of November 7, the <a href="http://www.cayugabirdclub.org/" target="_blank">Cayuga Bird Club</a> led a field trip to look for owls in the greater Ithaca area. The weather had been overcast all day, which meant my IR camera had a chance of finding something other than rocks and tree branches.<br />
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One of our stops was a stand of tall evergreens at Dodge Road. Here, the IR camera showed a few warm spots in several trees, but in the darkness it was impossible to tell what they were. The club's playbacks were able to elicit responses from an Eastern Screech Owl, which was nice. Then I noticed a warm spot near eye level not too far away, and to my surprise, it soon turned its head to reveal the unmistakable facial disk of an owl! Here's a video:<br />
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I would guess that this screech owl was about 10-15 yards away, and attempts to visually locate it with flashlights all failed. Soon the bird got bored of us and flew away.<br />
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After a brief drizzle, we arrived at Star Stanton Road, where our attempts at locating barred owls (or any owls) failed. Here's the group of birders listening intently: <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-36Ddg5qTtsk/VniKlF9NowI/AAAAAAAAB-M/y_uyrpoCbVc/s1600/1980-hammond-rbow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-36Ddg5qTtsk/VniKlF9NowI/AAAAAAAAB-M/y_uyrpoCbVc/s400/1980-hammond-rbow.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span id="goog_1017404971"></span><span id="goog_1017404972"></span><br />
<span id="goog_1017404971">As a consolation prize, I was able to see a small rodent - a jumping mouse perhaps - foraging in the forest floor:</span><br />
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Finally, we visited John Confer's Hammand Hill Owl Banding Station, where they had just netted a hatch-year female. We were treated to close looks at this beautiful creature:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TsL6MNH_FRQ/VniMY9hFF0I/AAAAAAAAB-Y/x1stggiXnbc/s1600/s9275-nswo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TsL6MNH_FRQ/VniMY9hFF0I/AAAAAAAAB-Y/x1stggiXnbc/s400/s9275-nswo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span id="goog_1017404971">When it came time to release the owl, it simply sat quietly on a stump, looking around curiously until it was finally prompted to depart by the banding student. Here's an IR video of its farewell.</span><br />
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Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com1Ithaca, NY42.4439614 -76.50188070000001542.397090399999996 -76.582561700000014 42.4908324 -76.421199700000017tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-31169802485384250812015-06-18T21:18:00.000-04:002015-06-18T21:18:12.588-04:00Nesting Season<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's nesting season here in the northern hemisphere, a perfect excuse to experiment with the Therm-App infrared camera (and a new 35mm lens with higher magnification).<br />
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First, a red-eyed vireo scrutinizes my shenanigans from its low cup nest.<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w7_J5akuzDg/VXtbE5Hd5HI/AAAAAAAAB6w/ZW45yYUchJ8/s1600/0684-revi-nest.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w7_J5akuzDg/VXtbE5Hd5HI/AAAAAAAAB6w/ZW45yYUchJ8/s400/0684-revi-nest.jpg" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K14vJVpABGQ/VXtbhoiGWeI/AAAAAAAAB7I/MavW46NVu0Q/s1600/s4520-revi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="332" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-K14vJVpABGQ/VXtbhoiGWeI/AAAAAAAAB7I/MavW46NVu0Q/s400/s4520-revi.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here's a warbling vireo nest found by Kevin McGowan:<br />
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Unlike the previous nest, this was on a sunny morning, and I wasn't sure how well the nest would register. Turned out to be fairly noticeable, since the leaves of the elm tree were not as warm as, say, the trunk of the tree which appears as warm as the nest. But I suspect I would not have been able to find the nest in this sunny weather if I hadn't known it was there.<br />
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Here a baltimore oriole's hanging nest glows with warmth on a foggy morning:<br />
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I was told that one of these holes was occupied by a pileated woodpecker. Can you tell which?<br />
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I observed a sapsucker actively feeding young in one of these cavities:
can you tell which?<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QqPjVYKFeZY/VYNpyalFXNI/AAAAAAAAB8A/qY7TgZ8grKs/s1600/1337-sapsucker-cavities-sxs.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="273" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QqPjVYKFeZY/VYNpyalFXNI/AAAAAAAAB8A/qY7TgZ8grKs/s400/1337-sapsucker-cavities-sxs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
The trunk of this tree had already been warmed by
the sun this morning, so the heat signal would seem to be lost: it is
the middle hole (second from bottom). However, on closer scrutiny, it
seems like the region of the trunk just below that hole is a little
warmer. Warmth from the nestlings, or just coincidence or noise?<br />
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For what it's worth, here's a composite I took of the male sapsucker leaving the cavity: <br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yPWxzjL8jZM/VYNtRMEaAMI/AAAAAAAAB8I/pezM-kIjkLg/s1600/IMG_4567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yPWxzjL8jZM/VYNtRMEaAMI/AAAAAAAAB8I/pezM-kIjkLg/s400/IMG_4567.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Finally, while there's really no reason to take a thermal image of these red-tailed
hawk fledglings on a cliffside nest, sometimes you don't really need a reason:<br />
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Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com0Ithaca, NY, USA42.4439614 -76.50188070000001542.397090399999996 -76.582561700000014 42.4908324 -76.421199700000017tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-88706465092995643882015-06-13T19:11:00.000-04:002015-06-13T19:11:29.036-04:00A Walk in the Woods<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Here are some thermal observations from a walk in the Mulholland Wildflower Preserve in early June. First, some ducklings, cute even in infrared.<br />
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Continuing with waterfowl: a pair of common mergansers preening on rocks in the creek.<br />
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But take a closer look. In the thermal image (less magnified than the photograph), notice how the mergansers' breasts are cold, colder than the surroundings even! Presumably they have not been out of the water for too long. It's worth noting that because water reflects infrared, it's hard to gauge the temperature of the water from the thermal image.<br />
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Further down the trail, an eastern wood-pewee was singing its beautiful plaintive song, quite loudly, in fact, from somewhere above. This is a common scenario for woodland birding: you have this small brown bird sitting still somewhere high in the trees, and you just can't seem to find it. But with a thermal imager...<br />
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the warm body pops out from its cooler surroundings. Unfortunately, this only works on overcast days, for as soon as there is any amount of sunlight, the reflected IR from the sun makes many things (tree trunks and branches in particular) appear hot, and warm-blooded animals no longer stand out.<br />
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Nearby was this set of cavities in a sycamore tree:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pWsTQmxfnwo/VXtZcWehohI/AAAAAAAAB6M/fDnLPS_XiBY/s1600/0686-cavities-sxs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pWsTQmxfnwo/VXtZcWehohI/AAAAAAAAB6M/fDnLPS_XiBY/s400/0686-cavities-sxs.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
I would like to conclude that the top cavity is occupied while the lower two are probably not, but I have no means to confirm this. I should write a blog post focused on cavities in the near future.<br />
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Finally, while walking down this dry creek bed, the high-magnification 35mm lens on my Therm-App showed this clear profile of a resting deer.<br />
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The deer was remarkably well camouflaged, such that I could never visually see it in its sitting position as shown in the thermal image, even with my binoculars. The deer did eventually walk away (they have little fear of humans in this area, and are actually quite the nuisance for plant life), and I still can't tell whether the deer is present or not in the visual photograph above.</div>
Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com0Six-Mile Creek, Ithaca, NY42.432959562258993 -76.48428440093994142.43149456225899 -76.486805900939942 42.434424562259 -76.481762900939941tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-33545330130478715512015-06-11T21:23:00.001-04:002015-06-12T18:11:23.845-04:00Birds and Bees (and Toads, Oh My)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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On Saturday, May 30, 2015, I brought my Therm-App to the <a href="http://www.fllt.org/" target="_blank">Finger Lakes Land Trust</a>'s <a href="http://www.fllt.org/spring-bird-quest-blog-by-mark-chao/" target="_blank">Spring Bird Quest</a> at the Ellis Hollow Nature Preserve. It was a cool overcast day, which I thought would be good for thermographic wildlife detection.<br />
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After showing off the novelty of seeing squirrels and chipmunks in the woods, I found a warm spot I could not locate with binoculars, until I realized it was not a large object far away, but a tiny object much closer: it was a bee!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--oYgpjmYam8/VXtXpi3fIGI/AAAAAAAAB5A/bq65K7CbIeM/s1600/IMG_4498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--oYgpjmYam8/VXtXpi3fIGI/AAAAAAAAB5A/bq65K7CbIeM/s400/IMG_4498.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Like everyone else there, I'd assumed that insects were cold blooded and would not be detectable. But walk leader Mark Chao later did some web research and reported that <i>"Various insect species, especially bees, thermoregulate. They do not maintain a high temperature all the time, but can warm themselves up quickly when they need to. A bumblebee can warm up its body from an ambient air temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit up to 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit in just six minutes!"</i> Thanks, Mark, for the information.<br />
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Further along the trail, we found a large warm area high in a tree: a short protruding limb was registering significantly warmer than the rest of the tree, and I conjectured that it might be hosting a roosting warm-blooded critter. Before long, a yellow-bellied sapsucker flew by and into an unseen cavity in that same limb! I regret not having taking better photos of this encounter, but here's one showing the warm limb in the lower-left corner, and the sapsucker perched in the next tree over:<br />
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In the visual photograph, the sapsucker is situated lower than in the thermal image, about midway in the second tree from the right. In the thermal image, the warm limb in the lower left does not look as pronounced, because the presence of the warmer sapsucker in the frame of view has shifted the upper bound of the Therm-App rendering. When the sapsucker was absent, the limb was a more prominent yellow against the darker background.<br />
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Shortly after, we found a small frog (or toad) leaping through the leaf litter, and I was curious to see its thermal signature:<br />
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Cold-blooded: that's more like it. Actually, I was a little surprised that it appeared that much colder than the surrounding leaf litter, rather than matching the ambient temperature. For what it's worth, here's a photograph of the same frog/toad (different pose).<br />
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And here are photos of a larger toad that I encountered later.<br />
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Finally, here are the bird quest participants hiking through the woods.<br />
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Many thanks to Mark Chao for leading the bird quest, and to the Finger Lakes Land Trust for all their work in conserving the natural areas for all to enjoy. Please check out Mark's blog about the month-long bird quest, of which this walk was only a small part: <a href="http://www.fllt.org/spring-bird-quest-blog-by-mark-chao/">http://www.fllt.org/spring-bird-quest-blog-by-mark-chao/</a><br />
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Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com0Ellis Hollow, NY42.438571673030438 -76.40973771639403442.437106673030435 -76.412259216394034 42.440036673030441 -76.407216216394033tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-6134157994965517642015-03-02T23:09:00.001-05:002015-03-03T14:48:33.096-05:00Screech Owl<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This morning the chickadees were complaining insistently in the spruce tree outside, and when I pointed my Therm-App at the ruckus, I saw this:<br />
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The spot on the left is a complaining chickadee fitting about, the blob on the right was something bigger. Here's another angle.</div>
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with the yellow box showing the frame of the Therm-App view. And the identity of our mystery guest?</div>
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an Eastern Screech Owl, very well hidden and difficult to find even when I knew where to look.</div>
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My first infrared-discovered owl! and a new yard bird, to boot.</div>
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Over the weekend I had occasion to test out another owl-spotting scenario with the infrared camera, a snowy owl in a field of snow:</div>
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The bird had been reported by others, and was somewhat far away, perhaps a hundred yards from the road:</div>
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Unfortunately, it does not show up that well: it is the little spot towards the upper-left.</div>
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One big thing working against me that day was that it had been sunny all day, and as I've come to learn, infrared from a sunny day can overwhelm even in a cold winter day (temps were under 20F), so I expect the surrounding trees to be cooler when overcast. Anyhow, I think it could still be an effective detector if the bird were closer, though one might then expect it to be noticed by the keen eye.</div>
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Interestingly, while I watched, this snowmobiler drove by:</div>
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passing probably within 30 yards of the bird, who did not flinch.</div>
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Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com1Ithaca, NY42.425157 -76.471415tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-19362025746703825262015-02-15T16:16:00.001-05:002015-02-15T17:32:32.953-05:00Before the Squall<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Yesterday afternoon, with the temperatures still in the "balmy 20s" before an approaching snow squall was to bring in a sub-zero cold wave, I decided to take a stroll to Potter's Falls and the Upper Dam of Six-Mile Creek, snowshoeing through about a foot and a half of snow.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Fire and Ice</h2>
Along the way were some nice icicle formations, which was interesting when viewed with the Therm-App:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AHp2y56u-KE/VOEIp3erVDI/AAAAAAAABzE/HDBSHmdyeok/s1600/icicle-flow1-sxs.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-AHp2y56u-KE/VOEIp3erVDI/AAAAAAAABzE/HDBSHmdyeok/s1600/icicle-flow1-sxs.jpg" /></a></div>
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Here's another block of ice. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D-BEvLuSXbg/VOEIpzOIMyI/AAAAAAAABzA/pYhksF-aGbA/s1600/icewall-flow-sxs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D-BEvLuSXbg/VOEIpzOIMyI/AAAAAAAABzA/pYhksF-aGbA/s1600/icewall-flow-sxs.jpg" /></a></div>
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From afar, the ice walls look uniform, but the thermal image shows some parts warmer than others. Getting close to some of these ice walls I could see that the "warm" regions had water trickling through actively.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Before the Squall</h2>
<br />
When I reached the upper dam, my new "hotspot detection" tweak alerted me to this hotspot:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e5VvLmGx3jc/VODmn-wTNEI/AAAAAAAABx4/rUR5_AwNoT0/s1600/goldfinch1-sxs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e5VvLmGx3jc/VODmn-wTNEI/AAAAAAAABx4/rUR5_AwNoT0/s1600/goldfinch1-sxs.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yellow box shows Therm-App field of view shown on the right. Photo on the left reflects approximately how dark it was getting at the time.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This turned out to be an American Goldfinch, sitting motionless in a relatively low branch. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-friujxAfmQE/VODmn3l-aGI/AAAAAAAABx0/7WEsGwKMVig/s1600/goldfinch3-sxs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-friujxAfmQE/VODmn3l-aGI/AAAAAAAABx0/7WEsGwKMVig/s1600/goldfinch3-sxs.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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Continuing up through a pine grove, I saw this:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FnvID61q-9I/VOEKzRaYA1I/AAAAAAAABzU/yX3NfP0xRnc/s1600/unidentified-sxs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FnvID61q-9I/VOEKzRaYA1I/AAAAAAAABzU/yX3NfP0xRnc/s1600/unidentified-sxs.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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It was getting quite dark by now (darker than suggested by the photo), and a couple of Great Horned Owls started counter-hooting nearby. I was excited to find out what this hotspot was, but at this very moment the snow squall hit, and combined with the growing darkness I just could not get my binoculars onto the hotspot. <i>So close!</i><br />
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The image above also shows a big challenge with IR birding: can you find the area of the photograph that corresponds with the IR image? It is just as difficult to do so in real time, combined with trying to use binoculars while holding on to the Therm-App and staring almost straight up warblering-style.<br />
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I'm definitely heading back to that stand of pines in the next "warm spell".</div>
Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com2Six-Mile Creek, Ithaca NY42.41864109226924 -76.46141052246093842.412780092269237 -76.471495522460941 42.424502092269243 -76.451325522460934tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-27970983689044656262015-02-07T16:24:00.000-05:002015-02-15T17:19:47.519-05:00Christmas Lights<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The birds were hanging out in good numbers at Sapsucker Woods this morning, and were decorating the trees like Christmas lights when seen via the Therm-App.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GuDcTfFYOis/VOEPBNZaFeI/AAAAAAAABzo/xPuvxPd8hzs/s1600/a-ssw-finches.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GuDcTfFYOis/VOEPBNZaFeI/AAAAAAAABzo/xPuvxPd8hzs/s1600/a-ssw-finches.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Mostly) House Finches in the "staging trees" by the boardwalk near the Sapsucker Woods feeder garden.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wjfnzvyk2to/VOEPBI0gNjI/AAAAAAAABzg/TSNWhGsm3Ec/s1600/a-ssw-finches2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wjfnzvyk2to/VOEPBI0gNjI/AAAAAAAABzg/TSNWhGsm3Ec/s1600/a-ssw-finches2.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">(Mostly) House Finches in the "staging trees" by the boardwalk near the Sapsucker Woods feeder garden.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yf9AO0p07Ww/VOEPBH5DV3I/AAAAAAAABzk/lPSSAJXzj3s/s1600/a-ssw-modos-cedws.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yf9AO0p07Ww/VOEPBH5DV3I/AAAAAAAABzk/lPSSAJXzj3s/s1600/a-ssw-modos-cedws.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mourning Doves in the left, Cedar Waxwings in the right. Not that I expect to be able to tell species apart with a thermal imager.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Meanwhile, I found this interesting warm spot in the woods:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gK2vIZRP9rs/VOEP_0PgCEI/AAAAAAAABz4/8GP-9CNwUiU/s1600/cf-warm-trunk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gK2vIZRP9rs/VOEP_0PgCEI/AAAAAAAABz4/8GP-9CNwUiU/s1600/cf-warm-trunk.jpg" height="426" width="640" /></a></div>
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The thermal image shows a slice of the tree back being warmer than the rest of the tree. Is this from rot? A cavity? Something else? I did not pry to find out. (Experience has also shown that tree cavities usually register <i>colder</i> rather than warmer than the surrounding wood, unless, of course, there is some warm inhabitant within.)</div>
Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com2Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca NY42.479266271465079 -76.45098209381103542.47780227146508 -76.453503593811035 42.480730271465077 -76.448460593811035tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-84846083230062095812015-02-01T16:59:00.000-05:002015-02-15T17:20:47.916-05:00Keeping Track<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Today was day 2 of a <a href="http://keepingtrack.org/" target="_blank">Keeping Track</a> animal tracking field day with Sue Morse and Linda Spielman.<br />
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During lunch a few of us stumbled across some fresh mouse tracks in the snow, which all led to or from a tree with a nice cavity - a cavity that registered as a cold spot with my Therm-App. But I happened to swing the Therm-App across a smaller cavity and noticed something warm: it was a deer mouse peeking through a crack in the tree:<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1JId6AYR3nc/VOEYvfgFS8I/AAAAAAAAB0Q/KMBRd859Yf4/s1600/mouse-in-tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-1JId6AYR3nc/VOEYvfgFS8I/AAAAAAAAB0Q/KMBRd859Yf4/s1600/mouse-in-tree.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-orCxyO6G_4I/VOEYvaF74-I/AAAAAAAAB0M/o3aUhG0nWWw/s1600/IMG_3894.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-orCxyO6G_4I/VOEYvaF74-I/AAAAAAAAB0M/o3aUhG0nWWw/s1600/IMG_3894.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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After I had my fun photographing the critter in the crevice, I'd walked away when another participant (Dylan from Binghamton University) noticed it coming out of the tree. I captured this thermal image of the mouse leaving the cavity as Dylan stood to the side photographing it with his point-and-shoot:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rIgA1mskUDc/VOEYvgs8_PI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/2x2mLrqVpX8/s1600/photographing-mouse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rIgA1mskUDc/VOEYvgs8_PI/AAAAAAAAB0Y/2x2mLrqVpX8/s1600/photographing-mouse.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Slowly the mouse descended, crossed the snow, and climbed up the next tree: <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k7IQ6F0-55o/VOEYvXD2QII/AAAAAAAAB0I/BbsxObGc4VM/s1600/mouse-climb-tree.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-k7IQ6F0-55o/VOEYvXD2QII/AAAAAAAAB0I/BbsxObGc4VM/s1600/mouse-climb-tree.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Suan Hsi Yonghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05037689486324799626noreply@blogger.com1Hammond Hill, Freeville NY42.432136022103052 -76.31858825683593842.426276022103053 -76.328673256835941 42.43799602210305 -76.308503256835934tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7374477818570397393.post-59314932757065138352015-01-02T12:02:00.002-05:002015-02-15T19:15:49.557-05:00Comparing IR Devices<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
In 2014, three infrared cameras for mobile devices entered the market:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Seek Thermal, $250-$300, 208x156 resolution </li>
<li>FLIR One, $350, 80x60 resolution </li>
<li>Therm-App, $1600, 384x288 resolution </li>
</ol>
Here I give a quick review of these products. To allay further suspense, let me just give the bad news: of the three only Therm-App is useful for birding.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Requirements</h2>
What I consider "useful for birding" is for the device to help detect a subject that would likely go undetected otherwise. This means roughly the ability to notice and highlight a hawk-sized subject at a distance of 100 feet (30m), at the minimum, since wildlife rarely approach closer than this, and when they do they can usually be spotted with the naked eye of an averagely observant person.<br />
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Note that I use the word "highlight", because it isn’t sufficient to just detect the subject. An infrared image of a forested scene looks rather messy, like this:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rTCySP5lHO0/VKazeT67ijI/AAAAAAAABvA/SNGgnN0BlmM/s1600/forest.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rTCySP5lHO0/VKazeT67ijI/AAAAAAAABvA/SNGgnN0BlmM/s1600/forest.jpg" /></a></div>
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and it is not helpful to say that the few pixels in the upper left is a bird if it can’t easily be distinguished as such.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
FLIR One</h2>
<b>FLIR One</b>, which fits only the iPhone 5 and 5s (support for Android and other iOS devices coming soon), is the first mobile-device attachment to come from the leading name in IR products. Its $350 price tag is much lower than any other FLIR product, but alas, it has a rather pathetic resolution of 80x60 pixels. On my first field test with the device on a cool November morning, I was lucky to encounter a pileated woodpecker and raccoon, both about 30 feet (10m) away from me. Both barely registered (if at all) in the FLIR One image. An interesting aspect of the FLIR One is that it combines the IR image with a higher-resolution visible-light photo to give the resulting image more detail. While I can imagine this being useful for close-range uses (to narrow down the hot-spot in an appliance, for example), and results in neat photos to share on Facebook, it does not help in bird/mammal detection. If anything, the overlaid detail from the photograph of the raccoon probably obscured any IR signature from the raccoon that might have been captured.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NE0QcYD-LSI/VKazfnDDADI/AAAAAAAABvg/fia9Bfio63s/s1600/stewgeese-flir.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NE0QcYD-LSI/VKazfnDDADI/AAAAAAAABvg/fia9Bfio63s/s1600/stewgeese-flir.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">FLIR One image of Canada Geese grazing in Stewart Park, about 100 feet (30m) away. The black forms indicating the geese come from the visible camera and not the IR camera.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Seek Thermal </b></h2>
Seek Thermal is a small IR camera for both iOS and Android devices, seemed more promising. At $200 apiece (update: now $250) and a workable 208x156 resolution, I was really hoping it would be good enough for birding, and bring this technology to the masses. Unfortunately, field tests have found it to be lacking in range: it shows reasonable detail at close range, but beyond 20 feet the images are just a blur. This is likely due to the lens, which is fairly wide-angled and probably not set up to focus at distance. To its credit, it did highlight a squirrel on a tree about 100 feet (30m) away, though a crow quite a bit closer failed to register (more on crows later).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-psomx2NGSfQ/VKazf7v2l8I/AAAAAAAABvk/W8eJ0FBc9vo/s1600/stewgeese-seek.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-psomx2NGSfQ/VKazf7v2l8I/AAAAAAAABvk/W8eJ0FBc9vo/s1600/stewgeese-seek.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Seek Thermal image of Canada Geese grazing in Stewart Park, about 100 feet (30m) away. The geese are detected, but largely as unrecognizable shapes.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Seek Thermal XR</b><i><b> </b></i></h3>
In January 2015, Seek Thermal released a new XR ("extended range") version of their camera, which brings it a step closer towards being useful for birding. My preliminary review is that it is close, but not quite satisfactory for birding purposes. When pointed at a known hot subject at moderate distance, you can certainly see it in the image, but it does not "stand out" at all; i.e., I would not have been able to "find" the subject. But I suspect that a different color palette could improve this some.<br />
Here is a roosting goldfinch at about 50 feet away:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zd9qdu3vWI0/VOEw9t8-ZhI/AAAAAAAAB1A/AxDAev-QOxE/s1600/st-amgo-far-sxs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zd9qdu3vWI0/VOEw9t8-ZhI/AAAAAAAAB1A/AxDAev-QOxE/s1600/st-amgo-far-sxs.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left: "white-hot" palette. Right: "black-hot" palette. The subject is barely discernible here, and even less so with the other Seek palettes (not shown).</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This bird was first detected at this distance with the Therm-App:<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e5VvLmGx3jc/VODmn-wTNEI/AAAAAAAABx4/rUR5_AwNoT0/s1600/goldfinch1-sxs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-e5VvLmGx3jc/VODmn-wTNEI/AAAAAAAABx4/rUR5_AwNoT0/s1600/goldfinch1-sxs.jpg" height="425" width="640" /></a></div>
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However, in walking closer to the subject (about 20 feet away), the subject <i>does</i> stand out in the Seek Thermal XR, here shown in six of Seek's assortment of palettes.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3G1pe4tkklg/VOEz7s6fRbI/AAAAAAAAB1M/Znh-cOAD87s/s1600/st-amgo-near-6p.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3G1pe4tkklg/VOEz7s6fRbI/AAAAAAAAB1M/Znh-cOAD87s/s1600/st-amgo-near-6p.jpg" /></a></div>
I hope to write a more detailed review soon.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
Therm-App</h2>
With a 19mm lens and a resolution of 384x288 pixels, Therm-App is the only one of the three devices I've tested that has found things I wouldn't have otherwise noticed. Distant squirrels and raccoons show up as bright yellow spots, as do their roost sites. Birds seem to be better insulated than mammals, but still often register as bright spots. Following a Junco that had flown into a tangled bush, the IR image quickly pointed to a second bird nearby I hadn't noticed. Pointing towards a complaining crow showed the bright form of a red-tailed hawk - but curiously the crow itself did not register, even though I could easily see it with my naked eye. (Several encounters with crows were similarly undetected, leading me to hypothesize that either they're better insulated, or their more absorbent black color radiates less infra-red.)<br />
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Unfortunately, this capability comes with a $1600 price tag (I luckily bought mine during a $1000 promotional period), but it at least gives an indication of the minimum specs required for birding. In particular, the Seek would probably do quite well if installed with a lens comparable to the Therm-App’s 19mm (a fairly zoomy lens whose 19x14 degree FOV is comparable to a 60mm lens in a typical SLR). The Therm-App is also only available for newer Android devices (with USB On-The-Go support).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-80SqtbpHy_4/VKazf2pC85I/AAAAAAAABvo/YzUWqHKD-5A/s1600/stewgeese-tapp.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-80SqtbpHy_4/VKazf2pC85I/AAAAAAAABvo/YzUWqHKD-5A/s1600/stewgeese-tapp.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Therm-App image of Canada Geese grazing in Stewart Park, about 100 feet (30m) away. Note the higher zoom compared to the FLIR One and Seek, with a distant pedestrian showing up clearly. Note also that the hottest point in this image is an electrical unit on the utility pole; that same unit can be seen in the other two images, but being more distant does not register as being especially hot.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yck3wmMyj0w/VKazfUdlCfI/AAAAAAAABvY/eh525mkZItw/s1600/lanstump.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-yck3wmMyj0w/VKazfUdlCfI/AAAAAAAABvY/eh525mkZItw/s1600/lanstump.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A hotspot in a tree stump coming from a cavity in which I could see, with binoculars, a roosting squirrel. Therm-App image on the left, Seek Thermal image on the right.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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