DefinitelyDressage.com

July compilation has ALL kinds of critters in it, and it's much longer than normal -


https://youtu.be/2AA9JMMO0DA

Even caught the bobcat a few times!

I just wanted to comment on how much I enjoy watching your trail cams! A few ignorant questions….being from a very different geographical region…Arizona desert….what are the red headed birds? And the larger bathing bird (maybe a bird of prey)? Are those raccoons or ringtails? Are they the same thing? We have lots of coyotes but ours look a little different, size wise and color and longer tails. Don’t they eat all those wild turkeys? We get an occasional bobcat too…so pretty. Also javelina, not so pretty but interesting. Bird wise we get Harris hawks, owls, ravens, quail, woodpeckers (endangered). We have armadillos but don’t see them in the wild much. Thank you for posting!

The red-headed bird that's mostly black with little bit of white? That's a Pileated Woodpecker, a VERY large woodpecker that's also very loud flying about, and they absolutely demolish trees when they start excavating, LOL!

The large bird of prey was a Red-shouldered hawk bathing in the creek.

And yes, those are raccoons - we don't have ringtails around here - but I've seen them on other people's videos and they're super cute!

Our coyotes tend to be big and fluffy in winter, and sleek in summer, but I imagine in the desert they would be even sleeker, right?

And yes I'm sure they do a number on the wild turkeys, but we've had a huge big flock of them around here, so as they roost in the trees at night (except for the mamas hatching babies, and the little ones before the learn to fly up), they're pretty safe from coyotes when they're at their most vulnerable. They can fly well enough that if they get ambushed during the day, a coyote can't catch them, unless one lands right in one's lap

The armadillos have been a cute surprise to me - I mean I get them all the time on the trail cams, but when they come really close you can see a lot of detail and they're just adorable



If you watch the videos on youtube on a PC, they are annotated so hovering over the timeline with a cursor will show you a text that tells you what animal is in that part of the clip. I don't know if it works at all on a phone or tablet, though. However, those time stamps are also visible in the description of the video, if you click on the "show more" text.

Thanks for watching

Thank you!

Nice compilation!

I love your "Birds cooling off in July 2022, part 2" - so many pretty birds. Part 1 was great also! I love the pileated woodpecker leaning back off the tree to get a drink, the painted bunting and tanager being territorial. I'm sure all the animals are grateful that your creek is still running!

Canyon - the lower part of the creek is still BARELY going, the upper part is completely dry. I'm not sure if there is a small spring under the first waterfall; the waterfall is dry, but the pool below it still has water, and the water keeps running down from there to the 2nd waterfall (where the hawk and woodpecker were, the fall is just ahead of that spot) and on to the "bird camera" where the Tanagers and other pretty song birds were.

I think there were three of the Pileated Woodpeckers, not sure if that part is in the video, probably not - adult(s) and youngster(s). Two are close by in the same tree, and the third is farther away but barely visible.


I can't stress enough how lucky I was to pick that spot for the little birds! I originally tried to catch what I thought was a Spotted Sandpiper, but it turned out to be a Louisiana Waterthrush - I have seen it before but never got good pics or video, so I wanted to catch it. I picked the spot because I thought it would come along snatching bugs in the very low water. Then all the other birds showed up, to my utter amazement! I caught a Pileated Woodpecker there, too, a couple of days ago, right next to the camera! I think I may have to make new separate bird videos for August, too!


We got a wee bit of rain yesterday, and hopefully get more over the weekend. It's been so dry that a lot of trees have dropped their leaves and the ground looks like it would in NOVEMBER, covered in dead leaves. So for the sake of all natural life forms that NEED the water, I hope we get some decent rain finally. Fingers crossed!

Here is the August compilation -

have a boy bobkitty AND a girl bobkitty, and they like to leave their marks on top of the waterfall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmFtyXTDLk0

Here is September -- no bobcats this month


https://youtu.be/B7FgaE9MM-g




Also, August Part 1 of birds cooling off in the creek

https://youtu.be/R26gZvSvauI

and Part 2

https://youtu.be/fHFbUY46T4M

FINALLY got time to do the October compilation -


https://youtu.be/u7r7XOxNVvY


(no bobcats, but almost everything else)

Thanks for sharing! Oliver ("The Babycat") and I watched with great anticipation. He wondered where all those coyotes go once they leave the screen Really enjoyed the cardinal/bunny encounter at the water dish, and the camera crash was hilarious! First time to see a possum carry her nest material on her personal trailer! I once watched an armadillo on our ranch repeatedly scoot armfulls of leaves--backwards--towards a hole under a log where he/she was spending time in the fall. Some activities done by wild critters are hard to believe!

texsuze - yeah, the possum was so cute, it was the first time I've caught one carrying leaves! When I saw that I had to go look for more videos on youtube of the same - and there are some nice ones! Interesting behavior!

I know a den near where I had the "bird camera" (I've moved it elsewhere as there are no pretty birds now), and I might put one of the cameras near it, I might catch a possum carrying more stuff

Some of my cats love watching the critters on the screen as well


I also got a compilation of our backyard visitors from September (October coming later) - our persimmon trees were full of fruit despite the drought we've been in, and wildlife have been stuffing themselves.

https://youtu.be/a11_NWQrI30

October's "birds at creek" compilation --


https://youtu.be/6lr6F0SFGFc

Finally got the October backyard compilation done -- they're still after the persimmons!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tAmc3Qyvd8

....aaaand the November compilation is ready, just before December closes out the year --


https://youtu.be/OQc5MaXdSGo


Lots of bobkitty clips!

The November backyard visitor compilation -


https://youtu.be/b4Tha5FsJAw

AND, December 2022 backyard visitors - birds and bunnies mostly.

https://youtu.be/rXlXemjLrWI

Finally got December done -

https://youtu.be/C32DWEZb3wo


Some nice bobcats, and cool hawks as well!

Something different this time -

Great Horned Owls, at night!


https://youtu.be/qre-0qfwHYA


I bought the night vision monocular just so I could see them in the dark - I have been hearing them close by, but it's not like you can spot them in the darkness. This was the first time I spotted them

A new one, January 2023 - several bobkitty sightings!


https://youtu.be/xbXxCF3xv-s

February compilation is ready -

https://youtu.be/qCm1FDrfx3k


Had the bobcat(s) show up several times, and an otter was a surprise visitor!

Thanks for sharing! Looks like the lame coyote is alive and well and roaming the territory. Loved the quail--wish we had some. I'm hearing turkeys on our place right now; any up there?

I had the volume turned up on the computer downstairs while watching. Once the bird calls kicked in, Oliver Babycat came running downstairs to finish watching your video

Yes, the "pawless" coyote is still around and doing fine. Did you notice she was carrying prey in one of the clips (going away from the camera). It looked like maybe a bird, maybe quail size.

We do get turkeys, but it's kind of random. Sometimes we don't see any even for years, then we get giant flocks with 30+ birds. Last year they came to get bird seed from under our bird feeders in winter, spring and summer, and then they disappeared - haven't seen any at all. I'm hoping they come back again soon, but who knows?

I only have headphones for my PC so our kitties don't get to hear the critters, but a couple of them like to come to help me while I edit when they see the wildlife moving on the screen

Hugs and pets to Oliver!

Looks like I forgot to post here last month -

here is the March compilation

https://youtu.be/lesAqIMgbRE


and here is the April compilation - with LOTS of different critters!

https://youtu.be/jclkqOXvtsM

I also put one of the trail cams back in the gully where the shallowest part of the creek is; last year it was a great spot for little birds, and they're coming back! Not THAT many yet in April, but May is looking great already.

Here are the April birds at the creek

https://youtu.be/AkTbupTTq_k

An otter and a beaver! Amazing!

It makes me so nervous to see the house cat(s) in the same spots where the bobcat and coyote hang out.

That turkey looked huge!

Yeah the otter and beaver both make my jaw drop - I know there are beavers at a small reservoir about a mile from here, but there isn't really any kind of decent waterway between here and there.

Now the otter is even more amazing - I guess that reservoir is big enough for it (them?) to survive, but this little creek is just too small to support otters.

And yes on the house cats -- I don't know if they belong to someone; the black one I've seen lots of times over the last couple of years, but the other one is a brand new face to me. The coyotes will snack on them in a heartbeat

Here's one of the coolest encounters I've caught on a trailcam -


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LueBAHtmjWY


Roadrunner vs. ratsnake -- spoiler - nobody got hurt!

Very cool! Looks like the bird was thinking the snake could be tasty? But maybe was a little more than the bird bargained for so she gave up?

zevida - yes, the Roadie was going to have a snack, but the little snake (a small, young, ratsnake) was feisty enough to convince the Roadie that it's not worth it!



I got another bird video edited and uploaded last night -

Birds at Creek, May 2023 (part 1, first half of May)

https://youtu.be/3G_CPo4RnjU

Birds at creek May 2023, Part 2


https://youtu.be/OO5mWwSnUaY




Hopefully I get all the animal compilation for May done this week, too.

Wonderful video! As they say, the key to attracting birds to your environment: water, water, water. We're fortunate to get all those species depicted, except the Louisiana waterthrush, although we have the black-crested titmice (mouse?) down here. Thanks!

Aww, I checked on the Black-Crested Titmouse and it's WAY fancier than our Titmouse! Adorable!

Your image quality is AMAZING! I'm sure it's been asked before but what kind of camera do you have?

Quelah wrote:Your image quality is AMAZING! I'm sure it's been asked before but what kind of camera do you have?

My older ones are Browning Recon Force Advantage, and my newest ones are Browning Recon Force Elite 5HP. They both have good quality, the new ones are even better than the older ones. I'm actually not sure which (possibly both) these were shot with, as I sometimes swap them around trying to find the best camera for each spot.

My only complaints about the newer ones are 1) they almost never continue recording after the set time even if they should when there is still movement in front of the camera. With "smart video" on they should keep on recording.
And 2) the sound is too quiet.

The bird videos have actually been zoomed in when post-processing for a little bit closer look, and hence the quality is not as good as it could be, and would be without the zoom-in.

May 2023 compilation - lots of critters!


https://youtu.be/sSgfFkeSLu4

Looks like I'm slacking off with posting again -

June trailcam https://youtu.be/YUrMvsBK8ks

June birds part 1 https://youtu.be/CdSrEojb74Y

June birds part 2 https://youtu.be/X_QnVxmqWDo

And,

August trailcam

https://youtu.be/eeyJBl99xuk

And more --

July trailcam https://youtu.be/HEXuw4C5pq0

July birds part 1 https://youtu.be/E3Fij-_VBBU

July birds part 2 https://youtu.be/Zodww2ukBlY

I watched then on my big screen TV. Beautiful

Chisamba - thank you!

The quality could definitely be better, the trailcams do produce decent video (except for my oldest one), but nothing great. I zoom in in post process on the bird videos (and sometimes on some clips in the other ones if the subject is too far away) because the birds are so small, and that reduces the final quality, too.

They're OK, though, if one's not too picky

Once again, Oliver (orange tabby ) and I thank you for posting the latest critter cam footage! That vireo species might have been a blue-gray gnatcatcher; we're seeing them a bit more right now, but not sure if you are in their range.

Always excited to see roadrunners. They have interesting facial colors, especially the blue. We have a pair who resides here, but not always easy to get a glimpse of.

Our once-abundant armadillos seemed to have nearly vanished after The Big Freeze 2021. Just now showing up again, with one doing the rounds each night as DH takes the "Day's End Dog Walk" around the house.

And how many raccoons is TOO many raccoons! Their 'camera adjustment' episodes are hilarious!

SnowHorse wrote:And,

August trailcam

https://youtu.be/eeyJBl99xuk

How did you even notice the water snake that was motionless??

The three legged coyote seems to be hanging in there.

Loved the raccoons messing with the camera! Hearing the sniffing at it was so funny.

And a bobcat again! So fun!

Thanks for sharing

That vireo species might have been a blue-gray gnatcatcher;

Texsuze - Yes!! I knew I had seen it before, but my brain would NOT take me there...LOL

As soon as I read your comment I knew you were 100% correct because I actually have taken pics of one with a "real" camera a few years ago.

Thank You!! I'll fix the timeline text, too

Armadillos are so cute, I'd be thrilled to get more clips of them in daytime. They're so odd they're adorable

Food must be scarce or something, since lately not only the raccoons have adjusted my camera angles, but also a coyote and a possum! I bet my hands smell like cat food, and then they come after that smell.

Pets to Mr Oliver!


zevida - I'm not sure how I spotted the snake. There's no telling how much stuff I miss if it's not moving, I guess I got lucky this time.

The three legged coyote is still doing OK, although she does seem skinnier. The apple season came and went and she was in the back yard getting apples every night. The persimmon season is starting, but so far only raccoons (besides our dogs) have been raiding those. I'm sure the coyotes will join the fun soon, too.

The bobcats are awesome, I think there's a male and a female, but I can't tell them apart unless I get a good look at their backsides, LOL!

And there's more Some cool birds in the first two!

August birds part 1

https://youtu.be/uzDXEwwhghU?si=JU831MxrMTOapA6h


August birds part 2

https://youtu.be/VOEenk9MWhA?si=Fa94v2cLSqp0pvKI


And September trailcam

https://youtu.be/6CENCQYldGk?si=PLAPiBhu7x4IvcFP



September birds will have lots of different migrating birds, some of which I had never seen before, but I have yet to start editing those.