Sunday, July 6, 2014

The Ojos de Lalla and Mid-Summer Update 2014


A Curassow hen enters the frame.
The Ojos de Lalla camera was one of the older Scoutguard cameras.  It has an incandescent flash for color night time images.  For daylight, it was set to record 10 second color videos.  The batteries lasted from July until early October.  We recorded over 776 activations over that period of time.  

We have sorted through and condensed them into a three minute video with ocelots, tayra, coati, a capuchin monkey, and a feeding white hawk.   
Here is the video.  I suggest that you maximize the screen size.

We replaced the batteries and in January.  The camera continued to function, but began to video and flash capabilities.  Since we were still able to get some daytime images, we left the camera in hopes of having at least a few photos.

One of the last  great images that we got from this camera is this one of an erect cappuchin monkey staring at the camera.
"I'm cool"

We have been patiently tucking small contributions away in hopes that we could get a wireless cellular camera set up.  Those cameras are expensive and the technology is improving.  I reached out to Scoutguard last week after reading on their website that they are involved in conservation projects.   Word came back late Saturday afternoon that they would sponsor camera and help with the wireless set-up.  We are extremely excited to be able to get email images in real time.  Scoutguard has been one our favorite preforming cameras and has delivered us many great videos and beautiful images. 
HCO Scoutguard's newest wireless camera.
UPDATE 7/8/14--The new camera, shown above, did not arrive at Scoutguard in time for them to ship one to us before we left.  We won't be able to deploy it until early 2015. 

We leave for Costa Rica in the middle of the week with new and replaced cameras, batteries and memory cards.  I'll be reporting back with what we hope will be some great images that were captured over the last 4 months.
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NartureSpy from the UK  has named us one of the top camera trappers to follow on Twitter:
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To see all of our camera trap videos, follow this link.
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Thursday, June 26, 2014

The Mono Precioso Cam


The Tayra was a star on the Mono Precioso Camera last fall.
The Mono Precioso camera is a Bushnell Trophy cam.  It was set to take 3 images per trigger.  It was placed near what I though was a good animal trail.   It was at the bottom of the mountain where the terrain began to flatten.  There are permanent water sources nearby as well as a pasture and plenty of tall trees.

There is a chance that this camera recorded the biggest variety of animals of all of the cameras that we used.  We also were able to record some rare predation activity and an extremely rare aquatic mammal.
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Capuchin monkeys are mostly up in the trees, but they do come to the ground(but still on a tree).  The Mono Precioso camera trap caught the monkeys very near the ground on three separate occasions.  However, the 9/15 visit shows what is perhaps a pair that is taking a look around.
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The weasel-like Tayra seemed fond of this trail.  We assume that it was a male as best we could tell from the photos.  He seemed most active in the mornings.  The Tayra is an omnivore, eating fruits, insects, nuts, birds eggs, reptiles, and small mammals.
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While reptiles are common at Ocho Verde, we rarely see them on the trail cameras.  The Mono Precioso camera was able to spot this male iguana(orange head).  It was probably heading out to the pasture edges to sun itself.
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Unfortunately, Iguanas and Tayras don't get along so well together.  On October first, the Tayra crosses the camera at 8:26 am.  Six short minutes later, it returns again with the iguana in it's maw.
Mouthful of Lizard!
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 In addition to the tayra and a few ocelots, the Mono Precioso camera also caught the Neotropical River Otter.  This site is 150-200 meters from the permanent water source. 


We only saw the otter on one day, and we felt fortunate that our water source is pristine enough for these neat animals.

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We have also rendered a few videos from the Mono Prcioso camera.  As always, maximize the screen size for better viewing.
The first video involves the Tayra.

The Second video is a compilation of nearly all images from July thru January set at a fast pace.  Definitely need a max screen size for this one.

You can keep up with nearly all the camera trap updates by subscribing to this blog and see all the videos plus some others on the Ocho Verde Youtube Channel.

If you like Twitter, we often announce updates to the blog and videos through tweets.