TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
Owl Harasses Coyote, Thoroughbred Trail, 07/07/23
BIG Owl on my Trail
- Thread starter TheWaterbug
- Start date
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
Coyote Pups Playing with Parent 06/28/23
I can't tell whether this is Mom or Dad. It might even be the yearling.
I can't tell whether this is Mom or Dad. It might even be the yearling.
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
Coyote With Prey, Twice, on Thoroughbred Trail, 07/12/23
Two scenes, about 2 hours apart. I can't tell if they're the same coyote or not. Prey looks small, so probably ground squirrels, as there's a big colony of those about 50 yards up the trail.
Two scenes, about 2 hours apart. I can't tell if they're the same coyote or not. Prey looks small, so probably ground squirrels, as there's a big colony of those about 50 yards up the trail.
JudasFeast
n3wb
Just read much of the thread and a bunch of the videos. Great entertainment! I like my crittercams and birdcams more than the ones catching people doing crap they shouldn't. I noticed you adjusted the illuminators at one point. What did you settle at for the exposure? The one of you walking was way overexposed except where you exited the leftmost frame of the rightmost camera but you got a decent face then when you were out of the main IR blast. Adjusting to a faster exposure would really help with the overblown bits of people but might darken things down too much for the wildlife shots? Just wondering how fast you tried. Did you go to 1/250 at any point? When I use illuminators I try and shoot high to not overexpose the near subjects. Your high branches might interfere with that a bit though.
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
I think I've had them on Auto for a long time. I did just try adjusting them 2 days ago for 1/250, and here was the result:
Owl on Thoroughbred Trail, 07/19/23
There's a squawk at the beginning. Could s/he have caught something?
If you step through frame-by-frame (comma key and period key in while paused in YouTube) I definitely get better owl, but there's a lot more background noise as well. I have 3D noise reduction turned way down.
I also got this massive over-exposure during the day:
despite having the 1/250th set only for the Night profile, and having a time schedule set up [, so I set it back to Auto]. I'll start a separate thread about that.
Last edited:
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
Coyote with Prey on Thoroughbred Trail, 07/16/23
Unfortunately I think this is another cat. Please, Westfield Residents, please keep your cats indoors!
Unfortunately I think this is another cat. Please, Westfield Residents, please keep your cats indoors!
JudasFeast
n3wb
Yeah, looks like you're locked at 1/250 all the time there. Day/night profiles should be a bit more intuitive and, frankly, are sometimes just plain broken. Here's how I set a minimum exposure in my Dahua 5442 that lets it adjust day or night as fast as it wants if it has enough light but to a maximum length of 1/120 at night. My apologies for the late reply. Not sure where the notification went to alert me that there was a reply to this thread.
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
6 Coyotes on Thoroughbred Trail 08/06/23
I haven't seen this many together since May. Probably Mom, Dad, last Spring's yearling, and 3 pups from this Spring.
I haven't seen this many together since May. Probably Mom, Dad, last Spring's yearling, and 3 pups from this Spring.
Parley
Known around here
We are getting more reports of coyotes in my neighborhood. I think it is the time of year.
Last edited:
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
Coyote Cacophony (Volume UP!!!) on Thoroughbred Trail 08/08/23
It's probably only a few of them, but it sounds like hundreds!
Nothing to see, but plenty to hear!
It's probably only a few of them, but it sounds like hundreds!
Nothing to see, but plenty to hear!
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
6 Coyotes on Thoroughbred Trail 08/11/23
The kids are playing rough!
The kids are playing rough!
Parley
Known around here
Looks like the coyote pack is pretty much intact. I figured a couple of the pups may have been lost by now.
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
There were as many as 10 in the family earlier this year--the mated pair, last Spring's yearling, and this Spring's 7 pups. This set of six appears to have 3 pups, so 4 have either died or moved away to new territory.
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
Coyote Hurdles Coyote 08/13/23
More family fun as one young coyote hurdles an adult.
More family fun as one young coyote hurdles an adult.
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
Coyotes Howling on Thoroughbred Trail 08/22/23
Two coyotes run by, one on the trail, and one on the hillside above, just before the cacophony starts, so the convention must have been very, very close.
Also, I'm getting some egregious audio clipping/popping in this video. Audio gain in BI is at 100%. I just checked the Amcrest settings (both are IP5M-T1179EW-28MM), and I reduced the "Mic volume" from the default 100 down to 74. Noise Filtering is at its default Open. In Chinese On/Off are often translated as Open/Close, respectively, so I'm assuming Open means On, and I left it that way.
I know the mics on these cameras aren't studio quality, but is there an easy/cheap way to improve the audio?
Two coyotes run by, one on the trail, and one on the hillside above, just before the cacophony starts, so the convention must have been very, very close.
Also, I'm getting some egregious audio clipping/popping in this video. Audio gain in BI is at 100%. I just checked the Amcrest settings (both are IP5M-T1179EW-28MM), and I reduced the "Mic volume" from the default 100 down to 74. Noise Filtering is at its default Open. In Chinese On/Off are often translated as Open/Close, respectively, so I'm assuming Open means On, and I left it that way.
I know the mics on these cameras aren't studio quality, but is there an easy/cheap way to improve the audio?
JudasFeast
n3wb
Sometimes gluing some foam or synthetic hair over the mic can really improve wind noise. Not sure about clipping but it MIGHT help by reducing the loud peaks of the yipping although likely at the cost of losing quieter sounds. Another solution would be to install something else at the location with a better mic with more dynamic range and have BI use it as the sound source. I'd think that a quality waterproof mic that's not USB would be neither cheap nor possibly easy but I've never looked into it to be sure.
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
Coyote Digs Out Ground Squirrel 08/24/23
Or it might be a gopher.
Or it might be a gopher.
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
Coyote Eating Crunchy Prey on Thoroughbred Trail, 08/25/23
It might be a ground squirrel or rabbit. Seems too big to be a gopher.
It might be a ground squirrel or rabbit. Seems too big to be a gopher.
TheWaterbug
Getting comfortable
6 Coyotes on Thoroughbred Trail 08/25/23
The six pack is back!
I removed about 3 minutes of dead time before the last coyote appears, but I'm pretty sure it's the 6th coyote and not a loop-around.
The six pack is back!
I removed about 3 minutes of dead time before the last coyote appears, but I'm pretty sure it's the 6th coyote and not a loop-around.