The bracket is made!

I think this year’s lineup is an improvement over last year. Based on what I’ve seen, all the opening matches look very competitive. My goal was to fix some of the lop-sided wins we had, and I’m feeling good about how this schedule looks.

There’s going to be some tough choices for you guys. Much like last year, I’m glad I don’t need to decide, but I’m still going to have to accept some painful loses at some point. I try to keep impartial during the tournament, but I definitely have some personal favorites. Sooty vs GHO is one where I’m not looking forward to saying goodbye to either one.

You guys didn’t nominate my beloved Spotted Wood Owl. Buff Fronted got in, which I was happy for, but its first opponent is last year’s winner.

I’m excited to see the Battle of the Southern Hemisphere between Australia’s Barking Owl and NZ’s Morepork.

We’ve got Eurasia’s biggest owls going head-to-head.

Snowy, Burrowing, and Buffy are all up against some flashy newcomers where we could have a surprise victory like the unexpected triumphs the Flammulated Owl had last year,

I think I will start the games Wed, 4 DEC after I get back from some travel. Then we’ve got a little over 2 weeks of excitement to crown this year’s winner. I’ll put the final 4 owls in the banner again and the winner gets the icon.

Got a personal favorite you’re ready to cheer on to victory?

Let me know which matches you are most looking forward to or dreading the most!

  • charade_you_are@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    2·
    6 hours ago

    Yeah, after listening to that video it’s definitely possible or even likely it’s a barn owl. Some other site had GHO shrieks/screams but said they generally do that when they’re younger. I have to make an effort to go outside around dusk and get calls down in my head or record it somehow. I really want to know what kind it is for sure. I can understand the lore surrounding owls after hearing the shriek a few times now. Before I actually put any real thought into what it was, I was pretty damn shocked lol. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

    • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
      2·
      6 hours ago

      My pleasure. I love trying to answer questions you guys have.

      If you search a project BirdNET-Pi, people have made a raspberry pi box that listens in your yard and charts all the birds that it identifies by sound.

      Some here has one I believe, but I can’t remember who it is now. It looks really fun and seems to provide a ton of data.

      • onigiri@lemm.ee
        2·
        3 hours ago

        Yes, that was me. Unfortunately, I’m not the one who built it, I just enjoy the data, so I can’t offer any advice. 😅There are a lot of birds it picks up that I have never actually seen, including a Barn Owl. It’s pretty cool.

        • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
          1·
          2 hours ago

          Are there people selling ready to go units or did someone you know make it?

          I haven’t remembered to read about it in a bit, but I feel it touted a pretty high accuracy rating. Do they update software frequently and/or have you noticed anything that was obviously inaccurate like it claiming a bird that isn’t in your country or something?

        • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
          1·
          5 hours ago

          Let us know how it goes if you do it. I’ve never done anything with a pi but I keep thinking it would be fun.

          • charade_you_are@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
            2·
            4 hours ago

            I haven’t either but I’ve been building desktops for 30 years. I just started looking into some specifics and it’s getting a little pricey but I’m in the process of convincing myself that it’s worth it. The main things I’m worried about are waterproofing(which I don’t see being addressed yet) and which way to power it. I’d like to get it a little ways back in the woods. Anyway, yeah, I’ll let you know how it goes if I follow through.

            • anon6789@lemmy.worldOP
              1·
              4 hours ago

              It would be really cool to have a weatherproof one that can run off battery packs so you could stick them out in the woods like a trail cam. I’m sure someone could expand the sound database and add more than birds to it as well, a Deep Woods Pi if you will…

              • charade_you_are@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
                2·
                2 hours ago

                Yeah, exactly. The battery pack is an option but I’m not sure how often it would die out. Pi’s are power efficient I would think but it’s still a computer. I saw someone post something about a solar panel setup as well. A security camera I have has run off a cheap solar panel pretty consistently for a while now but it’s not always on.