Chicks at play: RaspiCam 90fps

Our blue tit chicks came out of hiding a few days after leaving the nest, and now they are regular visitors at our feeders.

They need to learn the snatch-and-run technique, rather than spending too much time out in the open where they are vulnerable to predators.

Using a RaspiCam to capture video at 90fps results in slow-motion video and gives a better idea of their behaviour.

Bird Feeder Etiquette

I use to think that there was a definite pecking order around our bird feeders, with smaller birds always giving way to larger species.

But closer observation over recent years leads me to believe that the situation is far more complicated.

And by slowing down the video captured by my RaspberryPi camera system, I can observe detail that I would have missed if just watching from my kitchen window.

Portable PiCam: more video

With lots of activity at our bird feeders, it seemed like a nice sunny day to play with my portable PiCam.

Now we are into June, many of our garden birds are bringing their young to the apple tree that supports our collection of hanging bird feeders.

This invariably leads to a certain amount of conflict between different species, and also between grumpy members of the same group.

My Portable Pi-Cam

Well, when I say "portable" I wouldn't want to lug it around London on a site-seeing trip.

Maybe transportable is a better description. At least I can move it around the garden and film the wildlife.

This post provides more technical detail on this system, and a few more video clips.

BirdBoxPiCam2014: inside & outside

I put together a portable RaspberryPi camera system a few days ago, so here are a few video clips outside the box.

Inside the box things are not looking great.

I don't think the female has been feeding the chicks at a high enough rate, and it looks like we may have lost a few more chicks.

Raspi-Cam @90 frames per second

The latest RaspberryPi firmware has added an interesting new camera mode allowing 90fps recording.

Video recorded with this mode is encoded at approximately one quarter of the original speed, producing an interesting slow-motion video.

If you have a RaspberryPi and a RaspiCamera you can start using this, and other new modes, by updating firmware from the terminal:-