My Wildlife Cameras

A few times i have been asked about my wildlife camera so thought id do a little blog about them.


Having been fascinated with nature from an early age i always wanted to learn about, watch, record and capture wildlife and the natural world. For a long time ive enjoyed photography and in the pre digital age all of my pictures were taken on slide.

 Old slide photo. Grey Seal at Blakeney point

Things have changed rather alot since then and im now all digital, hopfully some day i might get round to digitizing all my slides. Although i do feel some of the preciousness of an image has been lost with the digital conversion.

The Wildlife Cameras.

I started my remote camera wildlife recording in about 2004 when i got some wireless cctv cameras, the only medium available for me to record to then was VHS tapes and i managed to capture some very grainy images of the local Rabbits. Technology at a reasonable price wasn't really about then so i just continued with my photography.

 Less than a year ago i joined Twitter and was inspired by Mike Legh Mallory's Badger cam on Wildlifewhisperer TV and  Wildlifekate cam's so looked again into setting up one of my own cameras.

My first £20 320tvl cam

Looking around at different cameras and set ups and having to work to a very tight budget of as cheap as humanly possible, i settled on a £20 320TVL day/night cctv camera off e-bay and got 30m of  Power/Video cable to go with it, that was the easy bit.

The first problem was how to get the camera signal into the computer, for this i got a Compro usb input from Wildlifewhisperer and used a BNC to RCA adaptor to connect the cam to the computer input.

The next problem now i could get the signal into the computer was how to record, recording all night wasn't feasible so a bit of internet searching and i found a great piece of software, i-Spy is freeware and offers full motion detection and sensitivity to your preferences.


Components.

Compro VideoMate C200 Plus

BNC to RCA adaptor

Video and Power Cable

i-Spy

My first night and i captured a Fox.

 I was so excited to get this however looking back its not a very good image. The camera was only 30m away and a nice Badger run was quite close so i got another 50m of cable and moved the camera. During daylight the camera worked fine but as the IR faded in nothing. I figured out this was due to voltage drop along the length of the cable. My solution was thanks to a skip find of some armoured power cable, this was laid down and the power problem was sorted. For a while all was working well, i had a good power source and had fitted an additional IR lamp for extra illumination and got some good footage.

 

Unfortunately the image started to degrade over time and then became totally unviewable. Twitter again helped and Gareth Jones Trailcamwildlife suggested using better video cable, so a reel of RG59 was purchased.

RG59 Cable

 As i had to lay new cable and winter was on its way i decided to move the cam again and put it on a lane near the house. Lane cam at the moment is a 540tvl IR cctv camera, the same as the earlier cam but slightly better resolution and with the same additional IR light to the side. With the cam in its new location and closer to the wildlife i had problems with the IR (burn out) where the infra red light is to bright, again Gareth Jones Trailcamwildlife suggested a great solution of diffusing the light using milk carton plastic and this works really well. Since then ive captured some great footage of the local wildlife.

540tvl cam with milk carton diffuser
                                                                               

         

A New Cam

  Inspired by one of Wildlifekate cam's i recently modified my old 320tvl cam by changing the focus of the lens and placed it near my bird feeders. The Mice seem to enjoy the new cam.
Lastly three budget bird box cameras were put up at the beginning of the year at the moment nothing has shown any interest, apart from the one box without a camera.

Barn Owl is Back

Following on from previous sightings i saw the Barn Owl again tonight. I snuck out and perched myself by a tree and was amazed as it started to hunt over the field, i think i watched it for about an hour.

Having been concerned that food may be scarce i was so glad to see it catch a Vole. This video is SHAKY i had no tripod so just holding the lens against a tree i tried a little video.

I really hope this Barn Owl finds the nest boxes that are dotted around and stays in the area, the tussocky grass's in this field is ideal hunting habitat for them so may be it might stay.

Barn Owl

Quick blog about today's Barn Owl sighting.

Been a snowy and windy day here.

Snow Splatted Trees

 Having spent a few hour's out with the camera looking for Fox's I returned home to warm up having only seen a few Rabbits and some cold looking lamb's.

Cold Lambs

Staring out the window just before the evening dog walk i was amazed to see a Barn Owl flying in to a tree just by the house! My camera was already out and i managed to grab a few photos, although the light was appalling and focusing through the branches was tricky im quite pleased with what i got.

At that time and in those windy and snowy conditions it seems quite apparent that the Barn Owl and alot of other wildlife is struggling in the prolonged cold conditions, all of them putting a lot of effort into finding sufficient food to sustain themselves, i just hope they can find it.

It has been grey and cold with intermittent icy showers here today but i still went for a little wander with the camera. Unlike last week with photos from my walk this weekend i thought id put a few short video clips together of what i came across. Being very new to filming with a DSLR i am still on a steep learning curve and i have no idea about how to work with and sync audio, but im sure ill learn in time.

Here is what i filmed

It would appear i am not very good at this Blogging thing since have only done one lonely blog last year, well here is another to keep the first company.

This weekend was the first sunny one so far this year, Saturday was spent sorting out next years fire wood so today (Sunday) i decided to go on a little photo walk. As we are nearing March Hares were my intended quarry but i didn't see a single one.

The walk started with a cheeky Grey Squirrel lurking in the tree by my bird feeders.

As i headed out across the fields in search of Hares the sounds of spring were in the air, Blue Tits, Great Tits, Chaffinches, Robins, and Wrens could all be heard singing their song.

One birds call seemed to reverberate the most as it soared effortlessly through the clean crisp air, the Buzzard.

After stopping to admire these fabulous flyers i heard the distinctive call of Lapwings in the distance, then spotted a small flock across the field.

Following the footpath by the old Deer Park i headed up the hill, i always find it amazing how a few meters of elevation can reveal a landscape.

As i headed back down, Adlington Hall (where i work) is visible through the mighty and majestic trees of the old deer park.

A little further down stands the Sham Castle.

I left the old deer park and head to a little woodland. Along the way i startled this Mallard, it sure made me jump as it exploded from the water and flew past.

Entering the woodland it was nice to be greeted with a Robin proclaiming his territory,

and a small flock of Longtailed Tits.

As i waded through an area of scrub and brambles towards a pond at least four Woodcock exploded into flight,  it would have been nice to get a photo but there was no chance, far too fast and frantic.
Once at the pond it was time for a little sit down to enjoy the mesmerising reflections.

Though the reflections a Coot emerged

 and was quite happy foraging around as i sat watched.

After a while of watching Cooty foraging antics i decided to head home and get some food for myself.

Little Fung Walk

First post and am still not sure what im doing or how this Blogger thing works. so this is a test post.

 The day are so short now and im not getting much daylight time to get out and do stuff, time in the garden, walking the dogs, photograph things and get some woodwork done, all has to be compressed in to a few hours. I did get out with the camera today and found a new fung (Tremella mesenterica) fruiting on a wind thrown Oak branch, a nice orange and yellow to brighten up a winters day.

Walking with my camera through a small copse i found some (Auricularia auricula-judae) the Jelly ear fruiting on its favourite host Elder.

My little photo walk was cut short as the showers moved in, one last fung that caught my eye was (Exidia thuretiana) fruiting on Sycamore, its a slimy brain like fungi.

As the showers passed this little water drop seemed to shine through the darkness.