An interesting start to 2009
Saturday, 14 March 2009
Well, it's been an interesting start to the 2009 nest box season. The box remained in place through the winter, long after last years chicks had fledged.During this period I started to plan the improvements to the camera set-up so that the problems of last year weren't replicated (the camera got nudged out of position by the chicks).
In late January I replaced the nest box with a new one, into which I had built room for the camera, separated from the nesting area by a piece of perspex.
£9.99 eBay CCTV camera and IR light
I also decided to connect the camera back to the house using cable rather than wireless, this meant running 175m of cable along the hedge. Although I thought it would be more reliable, it did leave me puzzled when the picture just disappeared all of a sudden. Further investigations revealed that rabbits had nibbled through the cable.
So far we have had a variety of visitors to the box, as well as a Kestrel we have also seen a Little owl and Tawny owl drop in.
Little Owl
Kestrel
Tawny Owl
So far the Tawny owls are showing the most interest, last night saw both the male and female inside the box at the same time. Due to the interest of the Tawny owls in the box I've placed another Kestrel box in a tree near by so that the kestrels will still have somewhere to nest should they not be able to use the same box as last year.
Stay tuned for more updates as and when the first eggs are laid.
Labels: Camera, Kestrel, Little Owl, Tawny Owl
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