About eight years ago I was trying out a few cheap cameras to attach to my bicycle. One was a tiny little cube thing that was a bit rubbish, and I ended up using a different one. I was putting a bird box up, so I stuffed the cube in the roof using a bit of bent metal to hold it in place and a lens to focus it. The first year it was up, there were no birds, so it was forgotten about. Then, in the spring of 2022, something small and feathery was spotted leaving the nest box, but by then the camera didn't work any more.
I couldn't quite believe that any other birds would ever use the nest box so I decided to see how cheaply I could make a bird box cam. £10.83 is the answer, if you can't be bothered to click that link.
Just in case there was anything to watch, I set up a web site. This is what it looked like originally. When birds actually started using the box I regretted skimping on the camera so badly. The quality is terrible.
So a big upgrade was planned for 2024 - new box, lights, camera, action!
In October 2023 I fell off a motorbike, broke my kneecap and wrist, so the upgrade didn't happen. It was shitty grainy video for another year
Bigger, better, and cunningly designed to view the beaks from a slight angle, the new box also has two cameras - one for quality video and the second for low-light conditions. No more grainy rubbish!
As well as two cameras, there are infra-red LEDs and white LEDs, both dimmable for subtle lighting effects or a disco. There is a microphone in there, for the full invasion of privacy, and a sensor on the entrance to detect when the birds come and go. Note that this sensor is broken, so we aren't counting this year.
There is a light meter so the in-box lighting can be adjusted for optimal exposure depending on the light level outside. The IR lights come on at night, synchronised to the sunrise/sunset times and the white lights are turned down low until the birds have got used to them.
This year has been mainly about tweaking the setup - improving the lights, cleaning up the backend code, and making a prettier site. The video quality is now full HD, thanks to a better broadband speed.
