• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
Stiles Farm

Stiles Farm

Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
  • Home
  • About the Farm
  • Farm Activities
  • Internship Program
    • Internship Alumni
    • Application Information
  • Contact
    • Faculty and Staff
  • Stiles Farm Foundation Field Day

Dani Miller Wildlife Biologist

October 17, 2019 by virginia.moerbe

Weeks 19 & 20:

Last week, I posted a few more trail cameras in addition to the operations already established at the recurring survey points. I stationed the new cameras as practice for myself in locating game trails, setting the cameras and avoiding/removing triggering vegetation, and experimenting a little with camera placement and programming. Three of the cameras were also set to collect time lapse or “field scan” photos at ponds, to see if waterfowl can be identified at distance with that technique.

After collecting and reviewing the first set of photos from the additional cameras, I have determined that field scanning ponds is not likely to be effective as a secondary method of monitoring waterfowl, due in large part to low long-distance image quality. On both Reconyx and Bushnell cameras, egrets and herons are identifiable, but anything smaller is a vague silhouette that precludes species identification unless the light is absolutely perfect and the animal is actually near the camera. I did have better success experimenting with trigger camera heights and angles, with one camera set at around 8 feet high and angled down to cover a clearing. It regularly captured the entire animal in frame as the individual moved through the view field, and I will be trying that at other sites in future. I’ve included a few new images that showcase some of the better results of my efforts so far, including one of the first grey fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) on this survey, as well as a trio of raccoon kits (Procyon lotor) adding to our already robust population, confirmation of two beavers (Castor canadensis) at one site, and a great blue heron (Ardea herodias).

 

In other news, the monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) arrived en masse over the weekend, and I have been enjoying their presence around the farm these past few days. This past Tuesday, I spotted a common yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas), a species of warbler previously unseen on the farm. I also finally achieved my first decent, identifiable photo of a great horned owl (Bubo virginianus), collected last Thursday. We have numerous great-horned owls on the property, but they usually spot me and fly off before I notice their perch or don’t let me get close enough for a photo if I do. This in

dividual was a confident fellow and just kept an eye on me as I circled closer, until finally deciding my presence was too off-putting to further endure, and silently glided off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Until next time,

Dani Miller

Wildlife Biologist

Stiles Farm Foundation

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Partnership Opportunities

Stiles Farm can run multiple projects at once thanks to the demonstration and research plot model. If you or your company would like to partner with Stiles Farm, we are looking for partnerships in long term conservation tillage and cover crop research, precision agriculture technologies, innovations in beef cattle production, the economics of small acreage horticulture production in the blacklands, and use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones) in agriculture production. For partnership ideas, contact Ryan Collett at (512) 898-2214 or rmcollett@ag.tamu.edu.

  • Compact with Texans
  • Privacy and Security
  • Accessibility Policy
  • State Link Policy
  • Statewide Search
  • Veterans Benefits
  • Military Families
  • Risk, Fraud & Misconduct Hotline
  • Texas Homeland Security
  • Texas Veterans Portal
  • Equal Opportunity
  • Open Records/Public Information
Texas A&M University System Member