UWOL 18 Tales of Wonder & Woe

[Per Johan Naesje]

Mary, it´s a tradition in my country to feed the birds in the winter. So I will not tail it off any way!

Some of the birds forage food but others dont´t. Today it´s -10 C (14 F) the ground is covered with snow, trees with no foliage, no bugs to find. And it´s only November, still 5-6 months before winter is gone!
And for nature lovers this is the time of year when you get close contact with different kind of birds by establishing a feeding station. If you are lucky, rare species like the Spotted Nutcracker suddenly appears.

So for me this is the time of year when I really like to be out, sit for hours, observing those small creatures. Even in the same genus, entity are quite different in behavior. This have amazed me several times!

[Marj Atkins]

Hi Per
Yes - we all have very different weather conditions and the customs in one country can be so different from those in another.

[Mat Thompson]

Per....you are an inspiration ! The image in my head of you sitting in a hide in -10 for hours on end is fab! I nearly froze back in June doing 5 hours on the Black Grouse and that was only 4 or 5 degs. Sitting motionless is a killer indeed!

My film, well I'm one shoot away from being finished. This is indeed something very different from me and for uwol !

[Mike Sims]

The hardest thing I’ve done in a blind is spend four and one half hours there with eighteen other people. It was ten feet by ten feet and the temperature was close to 100°F. We were waiting for a bird to arrive. Imagine standing motionless and silent while performing your best imitation of a sardine in an oven!

As for feeding birds, I do also. I’ve read several scholarly studies on the subject and, for the most part, it seems to not be detrimental. Most passerines operate under an optimal foraging strategy and simply treat the feeding station as a bonanza. I like to think of it like this- after spending a hard day rustling up wild foods they like to shoot round the bird pub and nosh bar for a quickie (or noonsies…). Many ascribe the beginning of the practice to Francis of Assisi, but it is certainly much older. The feeding of wild animals was a necessary prerequisite to their domestication. I think it began shortly after man invented art and developed a sense of aesthetics. In some cultures, such as the Bishnois of India, feeding wild birds is regarded as a religious and moral duty.

I’m pleased many of us seem to be nearing completion (I am not). I look forward to enjoying the fruits of your efforts and will, at least, try to post a clip which you may find entertaining. Good-luck all!

[Bill Thesken]

I'm finished and have uploaded to the UWOL vault. A little different work for me this time. A lot of facts and figures educational type film. None of my usual 'trying to figure out the universe' stuff. I spent about 15 hours on it, and it turns out I really enjoyed it. I hope it's not too 'boring'...

[Trond Saetre]

Looking forward to see yours, Bill. I'm about done editing mine.
But something is missing: Any kind of living creatures (except those walking on two legs) would be a good thing to add to my entry.
Oh well, at least not the dreadful shark tank for me this round.

[Mick Jenner]

Help Required

Although I have lurked here a long time this is my first entry. Could somebody please explain how I gain entry to the vault. Where do I find the user name and password or how do I create one. I am probably missing something somewhere.

After a lot of interruptions I have now manged to produce something, not as first planned and maybe a little disjointed, but never the less I have an entry!

Mick

[Mick Jenner]

Ah,

Have re read Cat's E-mail and see she is going to e-mail the details of the the password etc.
Bills post confussed me as he says he has uploaded. So in case I have not got the latest e-mail with the upload password etc could you please send it to me.

Mick

[Mat Thompson]

Mick - I wish our system were robust enough for uploaded films to automatically be added to the vault. Alas it is a manual process! I havent changed the upload password for a while but Cat/Meryem email it out each time as a matter of course.

Looking forward to seeing your work. I have a one hour window with my character over lunch to finish up my piece....we will see :-/ !

[Mick Jenner]

Thanks Trond and Mat for you e-mails and reply here

I will now attempt to upload

Mick

[Mick Jenner]

Again many thanks to all, upload completed (I think!)

Mick

[Per Johan Naesje]

Are you guys finished already! I´m still out in the woods trying to accomplish something. Today -10 C, very freezing temperature, fingers and battery drained rather quickly.
Got 3 minutes of usable footage in 4 hours wait in the hide. I´m now back home trying to warm up.
Good thing is that I will be able to edit something of the footage I got so far. But I still lack the good story, hopefully I will get some idea in the next days.
Planning to upload Sunday afternoon.

[Catherine Russell]

Hi everyone:

A flurry of activity I see! Splendid! Check your e-mails for the user name and password information. I've just sent it out.

Mick, you were confused by Bill already uploading because he has played before and as Mat said, the password hasn't changed so Bill already had the information.

Thanks Mat for stepping in and sending this info out to people that needed it. I appreciate it!

I'm thrilled for everyone. I can't wait to see what you have worked up this time. I'm glad on the whole, most of you seem to be having fun with it.

Any problems on the upload Mat and Kevin are the go-to people for this so pipe up. Let's starve these sharks this time.

Cat

[Kevin Railsback]

I'm going to do a quick and dirty list of uploads here in a bit. Have to take a hike here in Half Moon Bay to see if I can get some footage for my own entry.

[Bill Thesken]

Mick, sorry for the confusion, I've never finished anything early before and had to toot my horn.
Looking forward to seeing the films from around the globe.