BIG Owl on my Trail

TheWaterbug

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It's chicken time again*. Or at least I think it is. I'm not quite sure:


Any guesses as to what else it might be? The video quality on these cameras has degraded since I last fiddled with the wiring to get the bigger illuminators powered up. I might have to test and re-terminate the cables. But I probably also need to learn how to configure the cameras better. They're just on Auto right now, which clearly isn't working very well for prey identification.

* it's approximately that time of year:

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TheWaterbug

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Is this courting behavior? The smaller (female?) one has just buried some prey in my garden, 50' off-camera to the left, just before they come on screen.

The larger (male?) repeatedly puts his paw on the smaller one's hindquarters.

She returns for her buried prey 20 minutes after this clip finishes.

Seems a little early for courting behavior, but maybe it's year-round in Southern California.
 

Terri Underhill

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Is this courting behavior? The smaller (female?) one has just buried some prey in my garden, 50' off-camera to the left, just before they come on screen.

The larger (male?) repeatedly puts his paw on the smaller one's hindquarters.

She returns for her buried prey 20 minutes after this clip finishes.

Seems a little early for courting behavior, but maybe it's year-round in Southern California.
At first glance I thought they were red fox. It just looks like they are playing around to me. Nice catch.
 

TheWaterbug

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Looking at your video, it looks to me like your max bitrate needs to be upped somewhat.
The camera is set for h.265, CBR, 20 fps, 6144 kbps, I = 20.

I think it's my network cable. Everything was fine until I rejiggered the system to improve it :banghead: a few months ago.

The "TrailUp" camera, right next to it, same model, same settings, looks much better.

edit: BI Status shows that I'm pulling enough bits, but I still think the connection might be flakey. Or maybe the camera has an issue:

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I'll recrimp the test the cable this weekend. If that doesn't help, I'll swap in another unit I have laying around. I wanna see my coyotes clearly! Or as clearly as I can get with a $55 camera. I still need to learn how to program the camera manually.
 
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JDreaming

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One of "my" coyotes plays with his food. Probably a rat, though it's hard to tell:


If I didn't know better I'd think this was a cat playing with his food.
One of those new Dual Lens 180 Degree cams seems to fit your spot very nicely.:)
 

JDreaming

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Any model in particular?

Wildcat is doing review on the Dahua DH-IPC-PFW5849-A180-E2 - Dual Lens 180 Degree Full Color 4K (8MP Stitched) Camera here. But this model only on-camera LED light no IR though.



The Annke's FCD600 - Panoramic Outdoor PoE Dual Lens Security Camera, 6MP Resolution, 180° Ultra Wide Angle. It has two lighting modes, IR fill light: black and white picture; white light fill light: color night vision. ($129.99)


And the NightChromaTM NCD800 – 4K Outdoor Panoramic PoE Dual Lens Security Camera, f/1.0 Super Aperture. $389.99 also no IR but better picture quality.


 

TheWaterbug

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How far is your camera from the dirt trail/road?
Very close. Here's a view from the trail. I had the fencing and gate completely rebuilt a few years ago, but the cameras are currently mounted against the long fence that my shadow's head is currently pointing to. Distance to running coyotes is probably 6-8'. I'll measure tonight when I get home.
 
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