Birdy Bistro Fully Booked

For the past few years there has been a steady trickle of birds visiting the various feeder I have tried in different arrangements in the back garden. Just recently it has become pure bedlam. Yesterday morning I gave up counting Goldfinches when I reached twenty four. Add to that several Greenfinches, Chaffinches and numerous House Sparrows and there is chaos when they all decide to book a seat at the Birdy Bistro at the same time.

Sometimes several will queue waiting their opportunity.



Others get impatient and prefer bully boy tactics.



I usually film through the kitchen window and my camcorder has one failing, no way to add an external microphone to pick up the sound from outdoors. A recent question from Shirl prompted me to wake up my remaining grey cell and find a solution.  After scrabbling through my various junk boxes looking for a way to get a microphone outside I remembered I had an old baby monitor which I usually use to monitor the front door bell with the receiver in the shed so I can hear if I have a visitor.

After a bit of thought I took the baby monitor apart, filed a small hole in the side and moved the microphone outside the case. This now sits in a hole in the end of the shed not far from the feeders. It is fairly well protected from the elements as the wall of the shed is one inch thick and on the outside a sloping solar panel and the roof overhang keep off the rain and some of the wind.

The baby monitor transmitter in position with the microphone (the black bit just on the right) in the hole.



The receiver is in the kitchen about six feet from the camcorder. Results are not perfect. It is an old unit and the frequency it used is now allocated to other things so I get a bit of interference but here is a sample of the unit in use. Not much sound to begin with but as things hot up at the Bistro it gets noisier for a while.



 I think that now conveys a better impression of what it is like here three times a day. Next thing is to get hold of a modern digital version which should eliminate any interference.

I have one small tree, grafted on dwarf rooting stock, which is a treat in Spring and Autumn. In Spring it is a mass of flowers which appear before the leaves. In the Autumn the leaves turn from green to red. Yesterday I took two series of photographs. The first is in daylight and the second at night by flash.





Finally (sighs of relief all round) we spotted this little frog during our afternoon perambulation. The photo was taken with my mobile phone and fortunately little froggy let me get the phone within a few inches for a nice clear portrait.