{"id":766,"date":"2018-08-24T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-08-24T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weebly-import-post-8"},"modified":"2026-06-17T01:43:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T01:43:24","slug":"a-quest-for-cow-resistant-cameras-to-study-burrowing-owls","status":"publish","type":"wingbeat","link":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/a-quest-for-cow-resistant-cameras-to-study-burrowing-owls\/","title":{"rendered":"A Quest for Cow-Resistant Cameras to Study Burrowing Owls"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"paragraph\"><strong>By Landbird Lead Biologist Dan Wenny<\/strong><\/div> <div><div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Picture\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-content\/uploads\/weebly-migration\/dan-orig.jpg?ssl=1\"\/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u200bPlanes fly over Warm Springs heading north every 20 minutes and the cows there are apparently very itchy. Those are two of the unexpected insights we gleaned from the motion sensor cameras we use to record Burrowing Owl activity at Warm Springs in Fremont this year. It turns out that the camera posts, and the cameras themselves, are delightful scratching posts, at least for the cows. For one particular camera placed at Warm Springs last year, it took just a few hours for the cows to bend the post and dislodge the camera, leaving it on the ground facing &#8230;<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<!--more-->\n\n  <div class=\"paragraph\"><span>straight up. In addition to a regular procession of planes to the\u00a0<\/span>Oakland airport, the camera captured random gulls and swallows flying overhead. At that burrow the owl was evicted by a brush rabbit so I didn\u2019t miss much in terms of owl activity.<br\/><br\/>We observed three pairs of owls this breeding season at the Warm Springs site, with one pair successfully rearing five chicks. In 2017 we had four pairs and two successful nests raising seven chicks overall. In order to make sure we can continue to collect data on their activity\u00a0in between our visits,\u00a0I realized that it is essential that I design a cow-resistant camera post.<br\/>\u200b<br\/>First I attached a 1\u201d x 4\u201d pine board to the metal u-post to make it harder to bend the post. But using the straps to hold the camera to the new post clearly wasn\u2019t sufficient \u2013 the cows rubbed on the cameras and broke most of the plastic strap loop on the backs of the cameras. For the next attempt I added a steel camera case which I bolted directly to the camera post. This version was better, but the cows could still move the post enough that the camera was no longer aiming towards the burrow resulting in a week\u2019s worth of photos documenting the exciting pace of plant growth.\u00a0<\/div> <div> <figure class=\"wp-block-gallery wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-content\/uploads\/weebly-migration\/cameras.jpg?ssl=1\"\/><\/figure><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-content\/uploads\/weebly-migration\/cows.jpg?ssl=1\"\/><\/figure><\/figure>\n<\/div> <div class=\"paragraph\">\u200b<span>The latest design, and the one I\u2019m still using, includes three 3\u2019 guard posts cut from tree stakes. These guard posts don\u2019t totally prevent the cows from rubbing on the camera, but they take the brunt of the assaults and delay the inevitable demise enough that I can usually straighten and repair things during the weekly battery change and card swap. The main issue that remains is that the ground is so hard that it is difficult to pound the guard posts in far enough to withstand 20 cows with a 7-day itch.<br\/><br\/><em><strong>I\u2019m sure some of our readers have ideas on how to design a better cow-proof camera post. If so, please contact me at <a href=\"mailto:dwenny@sfbbo.org\">dwenny@sfbbo.org<\/a>\u200b. For information about our Burrowing Owl research, <a href=\"\/staging\/1924\/burrowingowls\/\">please visit our website<\/a>.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Landbird Lead Biologist Dan Wenny<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1230,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":""},"class_list":["post-766","wingbeat","type-wingbeat","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Quest for Cow-Resistant Cameras to Study Burrowing Owls - San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/a-quest-for-cow-resistant-cameras-to-study-burrowing-owls\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Quest for Cow-Resistant Cameras to Study Burrowing Owls - 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