Going Batty and Waspy

For many years I had a bat detector but the last time I tried it it refused to work. I binned that and thought about a replacement. As I don't always have bats visiting the garden was it worth the expense of buying an all singing, all dancing replacement? One look at the prices made it easy to say a definite No! What I did find was a kit for a basic detector at a much more attractive price. The thought of a kit sounds like there could be lots of fiddly construction. Not with the Haynes Bat Detector Kit. The main circuit board is already fully built which is as well as I have never got on with soldering the modern tiny surface mounted electronics bits. In effect all one has to do is plug in some wires and mount the parts in the correct place. The only extra item needed is a 9V battery.



As you can probably work out the cost is kept down by using a cardboard box rather than plastic. Initially I though this would be a bit flimsy but no, it is quite sturdy to hold. The front is printed and looks very professional:



ON/OFF and volume control on the left. On the right a control to adjust to the ultrasonic frequency you want to detect. Expensive detectors often have the frequency range printed for different types of bats but the type of signal and pattern detected can usually indicate which is which. The instruction manual which accompanies the kit has lots of information about how to test the built kit is working by pointing it at many everyday objects which emit ultra high sounds. LED TV and monitor screens are a good starting point. Near a closed but running microwave oven is another source of emissions. I checked them all and the Bat Detector worked exactly as expected. All I need now are some local bat visits - preferably just outdoor ones. I say that as some years ago I had one fly indoors.

Waspy? Well. The apple feeder didn't seem to be attracting any birds, though it is early days yet. I did peel a strip on the apple hoping that might help. What are the only takers I have seen so far?



Should have guessed that would happen. I will keep the experiment going. When natural food for birds is scarcer and Wasps have died off or hibernated maybe some Winter Thrushes and Blackbirds will show an interest.

Will They Use It?

From time to time I have seen some feeders designed to hold an apple for those birds which like them. Here it is the Blackbirds which really go for them when I put some on top of the fruit cage. The, though albeit not too expensive, cost of buying such a feeder has put me off as there is no guarantee the local birds will use one. One day as I was browsing for ideas for 3d printing on Thingiverse I happened on a design for one. It can be seen HERE. All I had to do was download the .stl files and use Ultimate Cura to produce the gcode file for my 3D printer.



It is in three parts. The main body plus two sections of perch. I didn't have any glue suitable for PLA plastics so I used hot melt glue to hold everything in place. I fixed the apple in place by inserting an oval brad nail from each side.

Only time will tell whether the birds will be attracted to it and enjoy a bit of apple. The only reservation I have about the design is the short length of the perches. They seem to be too short for a Blackbird to balance on. I will print some longer perches if need be.

Twoo is That Visiting?

I have recently changed all my surveillance / security cameras to a wi-fi setup. One camera now points towards the bird table and, as with all of them, is set to record when anything in its sight moves. This morning I checked the recordings from this camera and was surprised to see an owl had landed on top of the bird table.



I have seen a mouse scurrying about in that area in the past so I guess that is what attracted the owl.

Now I can see how much the camera covers I intend to increase the number of bird feeders in that area. The wi-fi cameras are connected to their own base station which is also a recorder. Real time coverage can be watched on a monitor and any movement is automatically recorded. Unfortunately it didn't seem to detect the moment the owl flew away.

Copying the saved file to a USB stick is easy. Unfortunately the version of .avi used is unrecognised by all but one of the Mac video player apps I have. That app doesn't have the facility to convert videos to another format. In the end I have to use Quick Time Player to screen record while Total Video Player played the .avi! Even the Mac version of HandBrake didn't recognise that video format.
P.S. Finally found a new version of HandBrake which does the job.

Lots of Young Birds About

I've seen a lot of young House Sparrows over the past week or so. Also a flock of Starlings descended on the feeders and whatever else they thought would provide a free meal. Wherever one or two go they are soon joined by most of the flock.



Yesterday I spotted a brief visit by what looked to be a young Robin. This morning there were three in the garden. Difficult to photograph as they were nearly always on the move but I did manage a couple of photos.





Still getting used to a routine without dog walks. I did dog sit one day for my next door neighbour. Nice to have company but it reminded me how active younger dogs are. I found it quite exhausting after nine years of living with a 40mph couch potato. I can't see me having a new companion.

Two Hedgehogs Meet in the Hedgehog House

Not for the first time two Hedgehogs have tried to feed at the same time in the Hedgehog House. Always the same outcome. A tussle over who is going to stay and have a free meal. Fortunately only egos are bruised in these encounters. The ability to curl up and being covered in spines makes for good protection during arguments.



There were several more solo feeding sessions later during the night. For some, as yet unknown, reason the outside camera doesn't seem to be recording sound.

Hedgehog Visit in Colour

First colour footage I've captured in a while. I spent yesterday installing new security cameras and moved one of the older ones to cover the garden near the Hedgehog House. There is also a 10W LED floodlight nearby which gave enough light for the camera to video in colour - just.



The camera (a TP-Link Tapo C310) has an SD card to which it records any movement spotted. I then view and download those to the Tapo app on my phone and transfer them to the laptop. Finally I used Wondershare Filmora X to make the final video. Maybe a 15W floodlight would give less pixelling on the videos. I have a 15W one elsewhere and the Hedgehogs don't seem to bother about it.

On Ya Bike

After a rotten Sunday when I felt really down and still missing the company of Penny I decided it was time to get out and about a bit more. Monday I went to have a look round Horncastle. More about that in a future post. Today I made a short visit to Alford. I went to see how many bicycles I could find. Not any old bikes. Blooming bikes! Each year a group in Alford come up with an idea to beautify the town. This year they decided to have bicycles decorated with flowers. The theme being titled 'On Ya Bike - and Come to Alford'. Here are the ones I managed to find, along with some of the other flower arrangements.





























My congratulations to all those involved in the project. All in all it was worth a visit with a warm 21C sunny day to add to the relaxing atmosphere.