Friday, March 29, 2013

MYSTERY HUMMINGBIRD CAUGHT BY GOPRO CAMERA

Over Spring Break, I played around with the GoPro, my narcissist camera extension pole (for filming yourself doing AWESOME things, and a few clamps.

I clamped the camera extension pole to the porch rail, turned it on, and just walked away. The GoPro can run for about 3 hours on a battery charge and the Ruby Throated hummers were stoked about the feeder being up, so I knew I would get some decent footage.

And I did.
Although, I had to wade through long stretches of gently swaying, no bird at the feeder footage to extract the birdy bits.

My notes show about 25 visits with an average "stay time" of 15 seconds. I didn't measure the gap between visits, but typically, if I am going to stand out there and wait, I figure about 10 minutes between visits.

The project worked, but may have been unnecessary. There were times when I was setting up the camera that the hummers came and perched on the bracket supporting the feeder, or buzzed my face, hovering, head cocked to the side, checking me out.

Gotta love these little P-51's.


Of course, the big mystery is the identity of the larger brown hummer that shows up in the last few seconds of the video clip below.

I can't find it in any of the field guides

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah yes...it's the ever-popular, most sought-after noseydorious labradorius. Amazing what hummingbird feeders attract! Great video.
Momadness

Barbie~ said...

Showed it to my son. We are busting a gut! Oh, the things they get into.

cinbad122 said...

You are too funny!

Dawn said...

That's cute!

SophieMae said...

Oh do! I can't see nuttin' but a black square. 8-[

SophieMae said...

OK, I switched from firefox (ugh) to chrome (only semi-ugh) and was able to see it there.

I agree with Momadness. But don't let your secret out. You'll be overrun with (nose) twitchers! 8-}

Dina J said...

He looks so big compared to that little bird.

Do you have a video editing program? How did you get 3 hours worth of video down to that 1 minute shot?

Pablo said...

I've had hummers buzz me out at the cabin when I'm wearing a red shirt.

Robin Andrea over at New Dharma Bums talks about a bear getting at their hummingbird feeder. Maybe that's what showed up at the end.

miz s said...

That's one BIG hummingbird! So funny. Love the way doggies have to check everything out.

R.Powers said...

I am setting a mist net in hopes of capturing the brown mystery hummer!

Dina, No photo editing software beyond picasa. I fast forward to the hummer bits and shoot only that clip up to YouTube, then use their photo editing feature to stitch it together. Oh the things I could do with a new computer and some decent video editing ware.

Anonymous said...

That is one big brown hummer! Cute too. Pablo mentioned the bear that brought down our hummingbird feeder Thursday night. What a surprise that was Friday morning.

Anonymous said...

Hi FC,

Great shot. They sound like little boat motors. The big brown one was kind of clunky sounding though.

Patio

Sharon said...

LOL, awesome. I have my first Lab-type dog (we think he is Lab/Great Dane) and I'm enjoying him IMMENSELY!! Best dog ever. I love to shoot the little hummers, I managed to get one feeding last Summer and caught a shot mid-poo. I don't want to be under your unidentified Brown Hummer when he lets go, just sayin' :-D