Happy Thanksgiving

Uh Hum! Lovely day...

Tippy toe,tippy toe....

Ignoring the camera,ignoring the camera...

You who? Girls are you over there?!?

Now I hear you. Comin' Tom!

Have a Safe and Happy Holiday All!

Barred Owl Trail Camera Moment

I last posted about my new Bushnell Trophy Cam. At that time I was changing its location every day or two. I have so many places and animals to watch...

When I picked up my memory card on the morning of November 3rd, it took me a minute to decipher the first image, not what I had expected. It wasn't a deer!

It looks like a Barred Owl was doing a little night time hunting in range of the camera.

I have found a website that offers recorded vocalizations of male, and female, separately and an interaction between the two. Maybe you too have been treated to their raucous exchanges on your visits outside? Their range covers half the United States and extends into Canada.

Commonly here at Timber Life about 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon the calls start echoing - letting the timber know they are awake, and soon will be leaving their nests to begin the hunt.

There were some extremely early morning hours this past Summer, when I wasn't aware of how close they were until one of their unusual owl calls came slicing through the pitch black darkness to stir my half awake brain cells. If I wasn't awake before, I certainly was after.

I am glad to share the same space and get a chance to see what the outdoor life offers when the Trail Camera brings them into view...;)


Note of Recognition: I would like to thank  Mr. Bob Pearson for granting me permission to link to the Barred Owl vocalizations on his website. I appreciate the work he has done to provide them for public education.

New Trail Camera Part 1

Moultrie Game Spy D40 Trail Cameras

Three years ago I was blessed to receive some wonderful additions to my Outdoor activity supplies.

Hubby saw to it that I was catching a picture of our wildlife even when I couldn't be on the lookout...A 24/7 job.

My two Moultrie Game Spy D40 cameras provided lots of fun, candid shots. Then they started taking pictures of nothing but the landscape. Missing whatever may have triggered them to snap a picture. I must say they withstood some pretty severe winter temperatures before I pulled them back inside the January of 2008. Then I put them back out when things warmed up in March and April. One memorable digital capture was some eye to ear action...

Last month my curiosity to watch deer movement coming into the rut grew to the point I went into serious research

mode for a replacement camera.

My information gathering brought me to the compact Bushnell Trophy Cam. I respect the Bushnell brand name for it's products in the field optics sector.

Next stop eBay. I am all for looking up deals on new merchandise. Yes, I also went to Amazon, and it's seller's page. Then off to Bushnell's website to see what might be of interest there.I ended back up at eBay. 

Qualities Needed for a Camera
1. IR trigger for the nighttime

2. Compact size - not clunky to transport

3. Picture size options

This model seems to be very user friendly. Having some previous knowledge of push button settings it didn't take long for me to work my way through the menu. They do offer a default mode suggested by the manufacturer if you decide not to customize.

I started with some manufacturer suggested settings and then a few days later did some customizing ,only to return to a few of the suggestions put forward in the owner's manual.

A setting I gravitated towards was the High sensitivity trigger for catching pictures. I soon found with the wind blowing the vegetation it was going off too often and filling up my 2MB memory card way to fast. The camera was only good for about four hours at that rate.

Some definite pluses for this camera is the ability for it to hold a 16 MB memory card, three different pixel settings(3,5,8), three sensitivity settings(low, normal,high) , a wide variety of timer options and last but not least the choice of camera or video modes.

I cannot speak for video quality yet, because I haven't tried it. I need to get a larger memory card so I won't miss anything when it starts to record.


Click here for a review by another blogger on the Trophy Cam.

Pictures will be forthcoming. Until then enjoy the outdoors! ;)

Important Update - I was looking over the memory card storage facts and it needs to be Giga-bytes(GB) not Mega-bytes(MB). Thanks! ;)

Winner of China's Got Talent Lui Wei

A few weeks ago I was introduced through the Internet to a very talented young Chinese man who had lost his arms in an electrocution accident.

The dream of becoming a concert pianist remained in spite of his physical challenge. There were individuals along his path that didn't believe he would be able to reach his goal and discouraged Lui Wei from reaching for his star.

I am so happy that Lui Wei wouldn't take the naysayers seriously, that he continued to believe in himself, working hard to move forward. He has become an inspiration to many.

Following is the video of Mr. Wei's final performance in winning the overall competition for China's Got Talent...

Reptile and Amphibians at Timber Life

Blue Speckled Salamander

The past season  provided some good weather for our reptile and amphibian populations at Timber Life.

While working outside Sunday, our dog Sadie alerted us to a presence in the pit surrounding our soon to be earth bermed home. The soil has been slow to dry after the huge amounts of rain received throughout the summer.

This little fellow was one of two sightings these past couple weeks that don't happen on a regular basis. I heard that our oldest Granddaughter did happen to find one in their small town yard six miles to the west of us yesterday as well. I can only think that the recent temperature cool down has them looking for spaces to get prepared for hibernation. Our sandy soiled location here in the country is a great place for burrowing.

It appears these salamanders are at the southwestern edge of their normal range here in central Iowa. Some concern about their future has been expressed due to enviromental issues.

Western Painted Turtle

Two teeth like projections

Brightly colored carapace characteristic of  Western Painted Turtles

A reptile species that is common in a wide range throughout the United States stopped to visit; moving from one moisture laden vicinity to another. It too found it's way into the shaded pit surrounding our construction...When I first saw it, it was between our current home, and the corner of the drop off. I came back to find it to snap some pictures of the underside, to verify which species of Painted Turtle I had crawling through the yard. The turtle had made good progress, making it to the mud before I found it again .

Cope's Gray Tree Frog

The  Cope's Gray Tree Frog seems to enjoy adhering to house surfaces from dusk into the night looking for an evening meal. There are two color variations for the frog, true gray and green over gray.

Hubby even found one clinging to the  roofing felt as we were preparing to apply our metal roofing one morning.

The frog not wanting to share the space leaped to the ground. Being on the ground I placed it into the tall
 grass for it to catch it's breath and move to a better situation.

American Toad

At the moment the interior of our wood foundation home is perfect for toad habitation with river rock and damp conditions where the ground hasn't been totally covered.

Throughout the summer we have  gathered up various sized American toads and placed them outside to find another natural setting to become home .

We saw an increase in little green snakes and the Leopard Frogs. The frogs seemed to be wherever you would walk in the yard, in the garden, or puddles in the drive. I was almost afraid to step anywhere in case I might accidentally squash an innocent in hiding.

I am confident there were other reptiles and amphibians at TimberLife,
but these are the ones that crossed our path this year.The snakes,frogs and toads were hard to avoid becoming noticeable by their numbers.

The weather has become dryer and Fall has arrived - time to bid our summertime visitors farewell, and look forward to their return next Spring...