Thursday, 8 May 2014

12 Day Old GTs + Heath Robinson Strikes Again

I was a tad surprised and a bit alarmed when I saw that Mama didn't sleep in the nest box on Tuesday night. The night before she had spent much of her time trying to sleep on the edge of the nest. I guess she sensed the babies were getting too hot, and maybe a bit too fidgety for sound sleep. Anyway Wednesday started and continued well with the babies being regularly fed. Some visits were so close together that I guess both parents were involved.  Some video from Wednesday, notice that at least some of the chicks now have their eyes open::




For yonks I've contemplated fixing a camera in the bird table so I can get a closer view of just what visits. One of those long outstanding Round Tuits. Tuesday I tried a Mk 1 solution by modifying an old nest box to see how well the idea would work. Good piccies but the camera (a colour board camera bought from Maplins many years ago) was too close in that box. BTW, it took the Starlings less than 15 minutes to find this new feeding station.

Wednesday I set about a Mk 2 version. This time I took off the old rotten roof from the bird table, installed and tested the camera and then put a new roof on made from clear perspex. In retrospect that was a bad decision. The camera doesn't really need any extra daylight and also the flickering Sunlight filtering through nearby bushes keeps triggering the recorder.

Some resulting video from both:
(the scrappy, glitchy bits are from the recorder not the camera)



I think I have to re-focus the camera a bit though I have a better one on the way so I may wait until then. The present one is daylight only, the new one will be colour by day and b/w at night.

6 comments:

  1. The feeder camera is an excellent idea. i look forward to seeing the new one when it arrives. Though the quality from this one is okay.

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  2. Adrian: The problem is getting good quality into the computer. Those clips were auto recorded on the DVR and then played back through the MacBook which always loses quality. I keep looking for a higher quality way of doing things. That board camera is good quality for its age. I must have had it about ten years. Hopefully things will have improved even more since then.

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  3. awfully full house to sleep in, i suppose. glad all is well. the mix of seed and pellets you feed is interesting!

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    1. TWG. Plenty of variety in bird food here ;)

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  4. With 8 open beaks chirping for food, there must be quiet a racket going on in that nest full of baby birds! The parents continue to do an amazing job of keeping them all satisfied. Another interesting view, this time your bird table. The Birdy Bistro is a very popular spot!

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    Replies
    1. Glo. One day I will get round to installing a camera with sound. Got to keep a few items on the Round Tuit ;)

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Thank you for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Any comment, or correction to any information or identification I get wrong, is most welcome. John

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