Birdbox camera stream

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Discussion

FunkyNige

Original Poster:

8,859 posts

274 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
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I've seen some people here like to keep an eye on the birds in their garden so I thought I'd share this stream of a camera that I set up in a box in my parents' garden -
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/s-and-d-birdbox
(noisy adverts, sorry)
At the moment there's a blue tit sitting on 8 eggs, we think she laid the first egg on the 20th which makes us think they should start hatching this weekend (last egg laid on the 28th then 10 days incubating).
There was a bumble bee snooping around just as they finished the nest but a quick peck saw that off hehe

Toilet Duck

1,329 posts

184 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
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That's brilliant! cool

Can I ask what camera etc you used? I've got a bird box myself that blue tits use and I've always wanted to set up something similar (obviously in the "off" season when they aren't busy making nests).

Cheers

opieoilman

4,408 posts

235 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
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I did notice in Lidl that they have a birdbox with built in camera at the moment, I think it was about £30, but I wasn't really paying attention.

Nimby

4,572 posts

149 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
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Toilet Duck said:
That's brilliant! cool

Can I ask what camera etc you used?

Cheers
You can get composite-video cameras on eBay for around £6, which connect to most TVs. Ideally you want one that does both b/w using built-in infrared LEDs plus colour (though you don't really get enough daylight through the entrance hole for good colour), and a microphone so you can hear the chicks begging for food and later exercising their wings.

I have one, plus a composite-to-USB adapter but can't work out how to connect my nestbox camera to my RPi and stream the results. So just the rather murky fishtankcam at the moment: http://propolis.plus.com



Edited by Nimby on Thursday 5th May 18:31

FunkyNige

Original Poster:

8,859 posts

274 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
quotequote all
Nimby said:
You can get composite-video cameras on eBay for around £6, which connect to most TVs. Ideally you want one that does both b/w using built-in infrared LEDs plus colour (though you don't really get enough daylight through the entrance hole for good colour), and a microphone so you can hear the chicks begging for food and later exercising their wings.

I have one, plus a composite-to-USB adapter but can't work out how to connect my nestbox camera to my RPi and stream the results. So just the rather murky fishtankcam at the moment: http://propolis.plus.com
Mine's the no-IR version of the Raspberry Pi camera and there's also an infra red LED in there (that's what the light circle is at the top of the screen), it is a shame that there isn't any audio from it but using the camera that connected straight to the Pi seemed the simplest option! The quality is much better on the screen too, but UStream won't let you stream in HD unless you pay...

Nimby

4,572 posts

149 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
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For composite video cameras you can get a long (5m or more) weatherproof cable and DIN connector that carries power, video and audio so it's easy to connect to a nestbox high on an outside wall. I'm not sure how you'd do it using the Pi camera and its ribbon cable

ModMan

372 posts

239 months

Monday 9th May 2016
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It's been offline for a day or so now ... come on, I need to see chicks smile

FunkyNige

Original Poster:

8,859 posts

274 months

Tuesday 10th May 2016
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ModMan said:
It's been offline for a day or so now ... come on, I need to see chicks smile
I know irked I'll pop over tonight to see what's going on, hopefully there was just a power cut or it needs rebooting...

FunkyNige

Original Poster:

8,859 posts

274 months

Tuesday 10th May 2016
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Back streaming smile
Powercut knocked out some trip so had to press a button to get power back on in their summerhouse.
She's sleeping now so can't tell if anything has hatched, tempted to knock on the side of the box to get her to move hehe Obviously joking, if it's one thing I've learnt from watching it it's that patience is needed...

JoyDivision

898 posts

202 months

Tuesday 10th May 2016
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Superb!

Wish I`d put a camera in our box as we have Blue Tits and they`ve just hatched.

ModMan

372 posts

239 months

Tuesday 10th May 2016
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Brilliant, back on it now. Thank you.

Balgair

73 posts

140 months

Tuesday 10th May 2016
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Thanks for getting it back online, I've been finding this stream strangely addictive the last few days; I never realised just how active a bird sitting on a nest could be, but she never seems to sit still for more than a minute or so, it's fun to watch. Looking forward to seeing the chicks! smile

Toilet Duck

1,329 posts

184 months

Wednesday 11th May 2016
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One of them has hatched!!!!!!

clapclapclapclap

ModMan

372 posts

239 months

Wednesday 11th May 2016
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Toilet Duck said:
One of them has hatched!!!!!!

clapclapclapclap
Exciting! Looks like 2 now? 3rd one trying to hatch too!

SeeFive

8,280 posts

232 months

Thursday 12th May 2016
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That is nice to see. Really appreciate you doing that. I will have a look in quite often.

At my old gaff, we had blue tits in a box a few years in a row. We only got to see the parents in and out up till the point when the young flew the nest. Of course we heard them all the time as did the local cats but they couldn't reach smile.

Last year we had pigeons on the bedroom balcony, which of course nest in the open so we got to see them develop. Ugly critters until they feather up properly.

Looks like yours are all hatched now, gonna be a busy time for parents as they grow. Worth a watch, thanks again..

ETA: watched mum eat the shell of the third egg to hatch yesterday - didn't know they did that, thought that they just took the debris away.

Edited by SeeFive on Thursday 12th May 12:14

SeeFive

8,280 posts

232 months

Thursday 12th May 2016
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No, they have had a shuffle about and I can now see one egg left.

FunkyNige

Original Poster:

8,859 posts

274 months

Thursday 12th May 2016
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It's odd - I felt so proud that the birds I'd seen make the nest, etc. have had the eggs hatch! It's obviously all down to them (and the dad does seem to be involved a fair bit) but I like to take some of the credit regardless hehe

Fingers crossed for the chicks now...

JoyDivision said:
Superb!

Wish I`d put a camera in our box as we have Blue Tits and they`ve just hatched.
You may need a new box - the cameras you get have quite a small field of vision so often the boxes they go in are a bit taller than most, think ours is about 40cm tall but the camera isn't right at the top. Next year it hopefully will be mounted a bit better so you can see the hole and the nest is a bit more in focus.

SeeFive

8,280 posts

232 months

Thursday 12th May 2016
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FunkyNige said:
It's odd - I felt so proud that the birds I'd seen make the nest, etc. have had the eggs hatch! It's obviously all down to them (and the dad does seem to be involved a fair bit) but I like to take some of the credit regardless hehe

Fingers crossed for the chicks now...

JoyDivision said:
Superb!

Wish I`d put a camera in our box as we have Blue Tits and they`ve just hatched.
You may need a new box - the cameras you get have quite a small field of vision so often the boxes they go in are a bit taller than most, think ours is about 40cm tall but the camera isn't right at the top. Next year it hopefully will be mounted a bit better so you can see the hole and the nest is a bit more in focus.
You are going to be so protective of them if you are anything like me! I have had baby blackbirds, dunno ks and blue tits to hand rear over the years. The longest guest was the blackbird.

When my lot fledged last year, I was fortunate enough to be at home. They basically take a lunge out of the hole and make a short flight (plummet) into a low bush or something. So that day, I was in the garden shooing the local cats away and getting a good look at them before they go for good.

We had one who exited late. I left him on the lawn for a while, he was unable to fly but I thought it was best to let the parents sort him out. They did not return, so I became a parent that night. Mealworms, raw mince all dipped in water every half hour day and night. After a couple of days, he got strong enough and when I put him on the lawn again, he sodded off without even a thank you smile. I went to get some sleep...

I will be fascinated to see what goes on inside your box.

SeeFive

8,280 posts

232 months

Sunday 22nd May 2016
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Numbers seem to be dropping inside the box frown

On Friday there were six hungry beaks. Now there only seems to be three. Watching on Friday it seemed that there were larger and smaller chicks, and the parents seemed to be spending more time feeding the bigger ones. Maybe a little natural selection taking place. Still fascinating though, hope the little critters left make it ok.

Nimby

4,572 posts

149 months

Sunday 22nd May 2016
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We still have seven thriving chicks from the original nine eggs. We've quite often had both parents in the box feeding the chicks this year, which is unusual. Most years only one parent (mum presumably) is seen, and we'd be down to four or five by now.

edit: webcam now working

Edited by Nimby on Sunday 22 May 19:23


Edited by Nimby on Sunday 22 May 19:24