Saturday, August 02, 2008

I Missed the Fledge





It has been a busy week. Megan and I are settling into our new house, slowly unpacking boxes. It seems like I spent way too much time trying to figure out what was wrong with our wireless network. It seemed that every time a turned off my computer, the wireless network would go down. Very strange. Megan, using her fine-tuned problem solving ability honed during her time as a PhD candidate, diagnosed and solved the problem. You see, it seems as if our cable modem was plugged in to an outlet that is controlled by a wall switch. As soon as I would shut off my computer and then flip the basement light switch, it would kill power to the cable modem. I would go upstairs and then just be baffled why the wireless network went down. Thanks to Megan, we've got things figured out and we have my PC set up in the basement (aka man-cave) while hers is way upstairs in one of the bedrooms.

And that brings us to this morning. I got out the camera like last Sunday morning, hoping to catch the morning sun lighting the wren house. The light was ideal, but the wrens didn't show. They have already fledged, and I missed it. At least I hope they fledged and nothing managed to pluck them before they were ready to fly.

As promised, I wanted to post a few closely cropped shots of the parents. Each flight they would bring back a small arthropod. Images like these make me so appreciative of digital photography. Can you imagine getting crops like these with 800 speed film? It just wouldn't happen, plus I would have been out at least $50 for processing all the images I took of the wrens. Digital photography has certainly helped me become a better naturalist. And it allows us to share so quickly what we are seeing around us. Amazing stuff.

Tom

12 comments:

  1. These are excellent shots, Tom. I like the detail.

    And I sometimes remember back to when I did everything in film. It was nice in the Army has I was able to buy my film but do all the printing and processing in the Signal Corps photo lab.

    We have had problems similar to your problem with the wall switch. We had problems with Road Runner who said my router wasn't any good. I picked up another in a plastic tub, here, and it worked. Then I took it off and put the offending one on and it worked. I still think RR was having problems.

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  2. Looks like they brought some nasty critters to their babies...no wonder they flew the coup!

    I'm really glad we figured out the internet thing- and hopefully that isn't the only thing this PhD will be useful for.

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  3. Lovely, lovely, little critters. If it makes you feel any better, we had a wren family every year in our bird house in Virginia (that's 11 years of bird watching) and not once did I catch the little critters fledging.

    And those wall switches! It took us a while to figure out that we had receptacles where only one of the two outlets was controlled by the switch, the other worked normally and all the time. Drove us crazy 'til we figured it out.

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  4. Abe- Thanks. My backyard situation somewhat reminds me of your setup. I'm thinking that I'll be taking quite a few pictures of the birds that frequent the yard, now that I don't live close to a natural area any more. I'm not sure why, but all three times I've switched my service location RR has not worked correctly!

    Megan- It will be good for a bunch of things!

    Thanks Wren, wow, that is really interesting. I wonder what time of day it happens? Hopefully they'll be back next year and I'll have more time to watch them.

    Tom

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  5. I'm sorry you missed the fledge, but those are great photos. Digital cameras are wonderful for sure! I'm glad that Megan was smart enough to solve your problems with the wireless.

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  6. These wren crops are fantastic. I've been shooting 100% digital for about three years now and I agree with you, I love the convenience and money saving of it. I would not go back to film for anything.

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  7. You are right amazing stuff~Nature!
    And what amazing captures you have!
    They are beautiful!
    Cat

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  8. I just see your blog, your beautiful photos, super interesting, very varied and I see that we have one thing in common! love of nature. Friends ...
    Excuse my English "The French PassionNature78"

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  9. Tom: Great photos and an interesting post. I shut my RR down when I'm not using it, I just feel safer not being continually on-line.

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  10. 3 cheers for digital photography & your wife's brilliance! Fret not about the wrens...they'll be back. TRUST me. ;)

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  11. Mary- Thanks. Megan is brilliant.

    John- I do shoot film every once in a while, but it is primarily to switch things up a bit. It keeps me honest and man, do I really take a long time to compose my shots when I only have 24 per roll.

    Cat- Thank you and welcome.

    Passion- Your English is excellent, infinitely better than my French, which is 0.

    Guy- Yep, with two computers attached to our network, its up and going online all the time. I'm ignorant...hopefully my firewall, etc. will protect me from an attack.

    Thanks Lana. I can't wait until we have another nest.

    Tom

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  12. These photos of the wrens are fantastic!!! I love all the details and since I was there in the backyard, and saw just how little this little wren house was, and how little the birds were, I'm amazed at these shots! SUPER!
    mom

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