Ballad of the Booby

an August in twenty thirteen
the blue-footed boobies
journeyed north for the anchovies
word came they were all juvies


a terrible birder joined the quest
anxious for a brief glimpse
Bodega! Reyes! The City!
denied in each instance



a guano rich rock in Marin
the final chance for the success
highway one hugs the winding coast
he, oddly free of stress


then at mile nine - quick over a fence
sharp shrubs, slick sediment
left his clothes torn with hands bleeding
damn all impediment!


at the edge where spray could be felt
rest along a rocky rise
binoculars out on the search
relentless scans tire eyes


to the north a lonely fisher
while straight a-west booby
"nay, there two clearly on Gull Rock"
the birder cried with glee

after an hour he was sated
steep hike up, yet peppy
a glorious success today
what could halt this jolly?


there at the top - two old birders
with scope trained obscure
"come have a look" they said with grins
without sweat, a sight pure

More Twee than Thou

Speaking of Hipsters, I was in Uptown the other day meeting up with some old buddies. Went by the Oaklandish storefront, who happen to make some of my favorite T's, and ran across some stickers/pins/magnets by Birdvs.Bird. Hot damn these things are ridiculous. I had to buy a 12-pack of stickers and a pin. They also have some sets that are particular to birds of Lake Merritt. Hell yes, Black-crowned Night Heron.

Which brings us to another topic Christian and I have spent the past few months discussing. What I like to call Twee critter art. Here are two more of our favorites.

Zoo Portraits by Yago Partal.

And some similar stuff, but all hand drawn, by Berkely Illustrations.

If any of the artists see this post, feel free to send us some free stuff/sponsor our camera trapping adventures. We'll gladly talk up your art.

Follow the links and let us know what your favorites are.

Brewer's Corner - Gruit Ale

Hello folks. This is an installment of an occasional brew post series that will occur at Camera Trapping Campus.

As Jake mentioned, he focuses on the West Coast Ales with his UCSC lab chums, while I apparently dabble in the "hipster" side of brewing.

A mixture of herbs, Gruit Ale was a popular beverage in Europe until the 16th century (the theories behind its fading glory are rather interesting).  I was introduced to the drink at the great Workshop in San Francisco's Western Addition, which was offering classes in brewing Ginger Beer. These were led by a fellow named Scott Mansfield, who in addition to teaching us how to make the traditional, alcoholic Ginger Beer, brought along a baby keg of Gruit for us to sample. Also, as a class attendee, I walked home with a bag of herbs to make my own Gruit: yarrow, St. John's Wort, mugwort and a pinch of wormwood. These herbs are known for their psychoactive qualities and for you ladies out there --  regulating cycles.


It took several months, but an attempt at the Gruit finally occurred. Together with my brewing chum, M., this would be the first true brewing experience.

First the herb mixture sat steeping in a simmering pot.

Then poured into a gleaming new carboy, "Bubbles".

Yeast and malt syrup were added and Bubbles was locked up for about 7 days.

After a week of fermenting, a tablespoon of corn sugar was added to 12 oz. bottles, along with the Gruit and the ale was given time to carbonate and mellow out.

Served in a frosty glass, the ale proved to be exceedingly smooth and tasty. A great success for a first attempt at brewing!

the psycho-regulator

Brew Blogging

I know Beer has little to do with camera trapping outside of being pretty much the best thing ever after a long day of trapping. That being said we are going to do a bit of brew blogging here at CTC if there are no objections.  If you really don't want to see non-camera trapping or wildlife posts let us know and we will consider moving it over to a separate blog, but I think many of our readers will enjoy the once a month or so brew post.

I have been doing some all-grain beer brewing so I will be writing about your more traditional West Coast homebrewing.

Christian is doing some hipster brewing (things you have probably never heard of) and will write a bit about that.

We won't turn this into a beer blog, just some posts on our own stuff.  I will be brewing a new batch on Saturday and kegging a modified recipe of what someone was calling a Mojave Red that we brewed about a month ago. Yeah I liked the name too.

Welcome to the Fermentation Zone

3 Fish Studios

We at Camera Trapping Campus always like to give a shout out to artists we discover or can call a friend.

A couple weeks back I had the pleasure of taking a class in linocut printmaking at 3 Fish Studios, located in Dogpatch, SF.

Our teacher, Eric, was a great: offering us great knowledge, unique resources and positive feedback throughout 6 hours of wonderful creativity (also soundtracked by some sweet jams).

All of us choose one image, which we would trace twice, then carve on a small linoleum sheet.


Then, we were free use all that was in the studio in combination with our block. Beginning with the basic, a Conrad Machine etching press and black ink...

... and ending somewhere between bright origami paper, musty field guides and children's books from the early 20th century.

The classes are highly recommended for anyone in the Bay Area -- no matter the level of artistic skill.

A.H. 2011