Happy New Year to All

Photo Movie + DVD Slideshow Pro

Another Mac app which is, at the time of writing, free to download.



This is at version 3.1.6 though there are some aspects which need sorting out yet to make it user friendly. At the moment the only media it automatically lists are from iPhoto though any photos or videos can be dragged and dropped by the usual method. Also imported video files play the sound track and there is no way to alter or mute this. I emailed the author about these and he emailed back that they would be included in the next update.

Photos can be grouped and shown in many different ways. Single photos can be zoomed or panned if you set up the start and end zooms to the same size and put them different sides of the photo. Commentary, text / titles and music can be added. The result can be for DVD or a file for uploading.

This is just a first test to try out a few facilities. One other thing missing is the ability to fade out the final picture though it is possible to fade the sound.



Not convinced it is worth the normal asking price of £20.99 yet though a lot of work has obviously been done developing the app and it does have some nice facilities. The various transitions can look jerky within the program even with a fast processor but once saved they look very smooth. Saving is not particularly fast.

Clouds Timelapse

After a cold night and frosty start to the morning the Sun soon evaporated the clouds to give a Sunny start to the day:



Timelapse - LapseIt app on iPod5, one shot every two seconds.
Lots of black spots as various birds flew through the view from my kitchen window.

Friday at the Flicks - Chaffinch and Robin

Nothing out of the ordinary going on so here are a couple of the regulars:



The Blackbirds are becoming very bold, though not quite tame yet. A few are usually within a few feet of me when I top up the feeders. After our frosty early morning walk I was taking Penny's harness off and a female Blackbird waited on top of the fence right next to us. As we walked round to the back door the Blackbird kept up with me, walking along the top of the fence. I must get round to trying hand feeding it to see what happens.

I haven't seen anything investigate either of the camera nest boxes as yet.

Nearly There and I'm Actually Ready

Very best wishes to all our readers with thanks to all who have visited over the past year.



Title made with Mac app Art Text 2 using the font Christbaumkugein.
Card made with Mac app HolidaysCard. Font Waxwerks.

New Nest Box

I spotted a Wildlife World camera nest box in one of Amazon's lightning deals sales and decided to order one.

It is quite versatile.
Set up as a Robin or Wren box:



As a Blue Tit box:



As can be seen the camera has plenty of cable attached.
The camera is in its own housing inside the hinged top:



Also the camera box can be removed to be used separately:



It could be used as a sheltered camera to watch feeders, etc..

The camera comes with two lenses, standard and wide angle.
At the moment I have the standard lens on which I focussed to what should be the height of a nest. Camera is colour if there is enough light and b/w with IR lighting in poor light.
The camera includes a microphone which I haven't connected yet.

The result can be seen top left in this screen grab:



My old camera box is top right.

For now I have fixed the box, set up for Blue Tits, on the back of the Summer house facing large bushes for shelter and well out of direct sunlight except for maybe an hour each day.  Now it is a waiting game to see whether it gets investigated.

Friday at the Flicks - Suet Attraction + No Sharing

It doesn't take long for birds to find a way to reach the suet balls:



Two female Blackbirds into one bird table doesn't go (no sound):



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.