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Native Californian, biologist, wildlife conservation consultant, retired Smithsonian scientist, father of two daughters, grandfather of 4 small primates. INTJ. Believes nature is infinitely more interesting than shopping malls. Born 100 years too late.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Richard's bird box monitor


It's one thing to have a pair of oak titmice move into your bird box.

It's another thing to sit in your TV room and witness the events going on inside the box.

A couple years ago I gave neighbor Richard a bird box, and this spring he equipped it with a cheap security cam wired it to an old black and white TV monitor.

He's been bearing witness to the timeless but fleeting drama of avian growth and development.

Today I stopped by to see for myself.

One of the chicks was flapping and climbing over its siblings, and I observed that "fledging is just around the corner".

"Then I've got to catch that stray cat soon."

"You betcha". Fledglings are delectable morsels to cats, but one hardly makes a meal.

Richard says that there's a frenzy of feeding just before sundown.

Mom and dad come and go, and the chicks gobble moths, poop and grow.

As a distraction to the boob tube, my neighbor prefers the bird box to commercials.


2 comments:

Henry said...

This looks like a great idea. I would love to give something like this a try someday.
I never saw the point of buying a TV before, but now I might be convinced to get one. Unless I can hook the security camera up to an old computer instead...

Camera Trap Codger said...

I want to get a similar set up in one of my owl boxes, but I've been too lazy to go see if they have even been used.