BirdNet Systems Testing #3: single call repeatability test

One final test method

 Is BirdNet really so bad?

or is there an 'age related' issue, i.e. 'me'

BirdNet-Pi: Species Stats

We are well into the 2024 BirdBox season.

 

Last year, blue tits made use of our new woodcrete bird box...

...but this year the great tits are having a turn.

BirdBox 2021: tits, robins & wrens

Its been a strange season, and no mistake.

The cold weather, early on, seems to have delayed everything.

And we have seen at least 4 things we have never witnessed before.

BirdBox2019: great tits & robins

Unlike 2018, we haven't had the excitement of birds being evicted from their nest [so far] this season.

Developments in the 'maple tree' birdbox are continuing as you may expect.

But we do have the added interest of robins nesting in an old analogue camera box.

Nature with Tech 2018

Although we have had some very bright, sunny days during February, it has also often been very cold.

And it looks like we have some seriously cold days to come during early March.

However, there are still some signs that our garden birds are thinking about nest building...

Millers Wood: a great place for bird photography

Although bird photography can be a very rewarding activity, it can also be frustrating.

Your attempts to get a perfect shot can often be spoilt by visual obstructions like branches, or distracting backgrounds like buildings or litter, or just the long distance between you and your target bird.

Then there may be noisy dogs or unruly children to contend with (...or vice versa).

Robins, Newts & a Rapidly Changing Landscape

We are so fortunate to be able to enjoy a garden with such a variety of wildlife.

But with the current surge in local house building, more people and busier roads, I wonder what it will be like in years to come.

What will future generations find crawling around their back yard?

PiCam: replacing the RaspiCam lens

I wanted to get a closer view of the robins nesting in my garden shed.

So I decided to replace the standard RaspiCam lens on my PiCam with an M12 threaded lens.

This is the third time I've carried out this modification, and I still have a 100% success rating!

Robin nest 2015

During May we discovered that our resident pair of robins had nested in a blue plastic container inside our shed.

Once they had left, I put an old open fronted nest box on a shelf inside the shed, in the hope that they might return.

They did, and after a couple of weeks sitting on the eggs, we noticed a few days ago that the female was disposing of egg shell and starting to bring small morsels of food for the emerging chicks.

BirdBox 2015: eight chicks face the world

During the week, all 8 of our blue tit chicks left the security of the nest box.

 

We have been away for a few days, so missed all the excitement, but have been able to catch up with the story, thanks to the video and data saved on the Raspberry Pi camera system.

We have not seen much of the blue tit family since we got back, but I did see about 6 of the chicks plus the two parents feeding in the apple tree this morning.

BirdBox2015: chicks are doing well

It is now just over a week since the blue tit chicks hatched out and started demanding food.

They seem to be growing fast and are starting to look like prototype birds.

And by this weekend they will be half way through this stage, with only around 10 days left before leaving the nest and having to face the world outside.

BirdBoxPi2015: Using RaspberryPi model A+

I'm running way behind this year, but I've now started building a RaspberryPi powered nest box for the 2015 season.

The 2014 system will be re-assembled, bolted to the side of a tit box and used again without any real changes.

But the 2015 controller version will be much smaller, and hopefully will fit inside a bird box without the need for its own enclosure.

BirdBoxPiCam2014: the box falls silent

It always seems strange to me, once the blue or great tits have left the nest, that the nest falls silent.

After 10 weeks of activity inside the nest box, 10 weeks of checking video recordings & watching "live" when we get the chance, the last chick leaves, and the screen displays a static view of moss, dried grass and dog hair.

And the view inside the box will probably remain largely unchanged (apart from the addition of more cobwebs), until next spring.

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.

BirdBoxPiCam2014: Where's my daddy?

I do hope I'm wrong, but it looks like our great tit chicks have lost their daddy.

If I'm right, then its going to get tougher for mum and the chicks.

Thursday evening was a rare opportunity for me to observe our great tit family, both inside and outside the nest.

SE-10 Passive InfraRed sensor (PIR) & the RaspberryPi

The SE-10 is a commonly available PIR sensor produced by Hanse Electronics.

Having bought one of these from HobbyTronics, I tried to use it on a Raspberry Pi, but ran into problems.

A search of the net just reveals confusing and often contradictory information, so I did some investigation of my own.

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:-

Using A Bird Box Camera: #3 MythBusters

One thing I particularly enjoy about observing garden birds, is witnessing behaviour I've never seen before.

Even better, is when the experts say that a certain kind of bird always does this, but you see one doing the opposite.

When I was a kid, the natural world was expressed in very simple terms. The Lion was the king of the African jungle.

But thanks to hours of observation and filming, often under very difficult conditions, we now know that hyaenas and even buffalo sometimes get the better of lions. And that the largest African animal (the elephant) has to run away from one of the smallest creatures (the bee).

Using a BirdBox Camera: #1 The Basics

Small surveillance cameras have never been cheaper, so why not spy on the great tits in your garden?

As the bird box season in southern England kicks off late February/early March, you need to start to plan NOW for the 2013 season!

 

Why do it?

Although you won't get the kind of quality pictures we see on BBC programs like Springwatch (http://www.bbc.co.uk/springwatch), installing a cheap camera in your garden bird box will give you a special insight into the lives of some of your little feathered friends. Following the process of nest building, egg laying, feeding the chicks and finally fledging, can be a rewarding experience for young and old alike.