Perhaps in the case of this Blue Jay taking a dip in Jacqueline from Takoma Park, Maryland’s nautically-shaped bird bath, we should change the old saying to “whatever floats you in a boat.” Jacqueline used her Audubon BirdCam to capture this delightful image of the jay in mid-bath. We liked it so much we made it a Wingscapes Staff Favorite.
Blue Jay Taking a Bath
Of course, despite the fact that it may appear that this Blue Jay is simply taking a refreshing dip under the warm summer sun, the discovery and use of shallow ponds (or vessels such as this) filled with clean water in which birds can bathe is an essential element of feather maintenance. Being able to keep their feathers clean helps the birds to ensure they will remain in good working order until their next molt.
Both the American Ornithologists’ Union and BirdLife International still include it on their respective lists of species. Scientists still hotly debate its existence. Novelists are even using the possibility of its continued survival as the theme of their books. Such is the mystique of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker.
It’s not difficult to understand why the idea of its existence is so compelling. Just look at this BirdCam 2.0 video recorded by Ferdie2009 of its smaller cousin, the Pileated Woodpecker; now imagine this bird twice as large with a massive ivory-colored bill nearly three times the bill on this one. The prospect that such a spectacular bird may still be flying through some isolated forest is a very appealing thought indeed.
Judging just how effective a particular bird’s feather colors and patterns are at camouflaging it isn’t always easy unless you see it against the type of habitat in which it is most commonly found.
Take this Mourning Dove, for example. When seen sitting on a wire or a nicely manicured lawn, they don’t appear to be a well camouflaged species.
Mourning Dove
But when seen against a background similar to their natural habitat - bare ground, rocks, and sparse vegetation - such as this one photographed by Jim in Blooming Grove, Texas using his BirdCam 2.0, even with their vivid pale blue eye-ring they virtually disappear.
And on those occasions when Mourning Doves' cryptic pattern isn’t sufficient to keep them safe, the white flash of their otherwise hidden tail feathers and the whistling noise they make upon taking flight will often startle a potential predator long enough for them to make a safe get-away.
When viewing this video of Long-tailed Tits massing on a suet feeder at Hill View in England that Angela recorded using her original Wingscapes BirdCam, we were immediately struck by how familiar these little birds seemed to us - even though the species has never been recorded in the U.S. or Canada.
Then it dawned on us: they look very much, and behave exactly, like the tiny Bushtits common to the west coast of the United States. In fact, both are closely related within the thirteen-species-strong family of Long-tailed Tits that, except for the Bushtits (the family's only North American species), are found all across Europe and Asia.
All of England has been abuzz recently about the possibility of there being a large wild cat roaming the forests of Gloustershire. Two Roe Deer have been found dead with wounds indicating that they had been killed by some sort of large predatory animal. The mysterious animal, which many have come to call “The Beast of Woodchester,” would be quite a discovery indeed if it turns out to in fact be a large cat as the island’s only wild cat, the Scottish Wildcat, has been absent from England for at least a century and a half.
Red Fox
However some light into the identity of “The Beast” is beginning to shine with DNA testing now having been performed on the deer carcasses. No cat DNA was found, but that of a Red Fox - perhaps looking very much like this one recorded using a BirdCam 2.0 and uploaded to the Wingscapes Photo Gallery by Trogtrog form Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK - was discovered. Many, however, continue to think that this was only from a fox scavenging the already dead deer and that the real “Beast” still remains to be identified.
Our friends at The Horticultural Channel in London, England have really provided us with quite a parade of birds visiting their bird table that they’ve recorded using a Wingscapes Audubon BirdCam.
From the sweet-singing Blackbirds to the proverbially cheeky Robins to a squirrel helpfully giving the camera’s lens a quick “cleaning,” a good selection of the most common garden bird table visitors are represented.
There’s even a quick cameo appearance by a Carrion Crow and a Jay (which North American bird watchers will find remarkably different in appearance from the jays they’re accustomed to seeing at their own feeders.).
We discovered The Horticultural Channel through their posting to our Facebook page (they have one of their own as well, by the way); and we’re very glad they did. We hope to see many more of their videos in the weeks and months to come.
Even in the coldest, darkest months of a Pacific Northwest winter, Anna’s Hummingbirds can still be seen visiting feeders in Oregon and southwest Washington. They withstand the often sub-freezing temperatures by entering a deep “sleep” each night called torpor to conserve their much needed energy.
Anna's Hummingbird
Each morning they awaken long before dawn and begin feeding to ensure they take in sufficient calories to make it through the next night. John from Scappoose, Oregon relied on the flash in his BirdCam 2.0 to photograph this one making just such a pre-dawn visit to his feeder which, like many who live in the area, he keeps filled all year long for just such visitors.
Once again, we’re amazed at the creative uses to which Wingscapes users have put their cameras. Our most recent discovery comes to us from TheWeavers101 who take a Wingscapes timelapse camera along with them on their many cruise vacations in order to record the passing scenery.
Their most recent video was recorded earlier this very month. They placed their Wingscapes timelapse camera right on their stateroom balcony and recorded the pre-dawn return of the Holland America Westerdam to the docks in Ft. Lauderdale at the conclusion of a Caribbean cruise.
They also have a number of other great Wingscapes timelapse movies from previous trips posted on their YouTube channel. We can’t wait to see the recordings from their next adventure.
Check out our YouTube channel for more awesome time lapse videos.
Because they are rather similar in appearance, many people assume that the hummingbirds of the New World and the sunbirds of Africa, Asia, and Australia are closely related. Looking at this lovely image of a Malachite Sunbird that Wingscapes Flickr Group member Jackie of Global Bird Trekkers recorded using her Wingscapes BirdCam as it visited a feeder in Britannia Bay, South Africa, it’s not hard to see why.
Malachite Sunbird
However, despite their appearance, their preference for feeding on nectar, and their habit of supplementing their diets with small spiders during breeding seasons, sunbirds and hummingbirds are actually only quite distant relatives. Their similarities are the evolutionary result of both these widely geographically separated bird families feeding on the same types of foods and requiring similar physical traits to do so effectively.
We never get tired of seeing all the things people do with Wingscapes cameras. In addition to capturing motion-triggered images and videos of backyard birds and other wildlife, timelapse recordings of both indoor and outdoor plant growth, and documenting renovations and construction projects, we’ve more recently been seeing a good number of artists employing Wingscapes cameras to record their work.
For example, MangaSkySketcher123 recorded the creation of the initial pencil sketches of a new manga character using the timelapse feature of the BirdCam 2.0. We hope he posts Part 2 soon; we’ve very eager to see how the finished character will look.