Bird Feeder Time Lapse Camera

I placed my new bird feeder, which I received as a Christmas present, outdoors by my breakfast room window at 13:00 Christmas Day.  For one week, I saw no activity at the feeder.  On New Years Day, I saw a squirrel eating my sunflower chips.  Damn squirrels!

There is no way I can sit and watch my feeder 24/7 or even just during daylight hours.  I needed an automated device to record the activity at the feeder.  I could have used my video camera from inside the window.   With the video camera, I would get a few hours of recording before the media filled to capacity or the batteries were expended.  That wasn't going to work.  I could purchase the hardware and software to allow my Nikon to capture images in a time lapse fashion.  That would be costly.  

I remembered seeing on the web somewhere, a programmable time lapse camera that is small, weather proof and under $150.00.   I did some research and purchased from Amazon a Brinno TLC 100 and a Fat Gecko Single Suction Cup Camera Mount, all for under $200.00.  I ordered both on a Friday and they arrived on Wednesday.


I opened the Brinno package and read the manual.  Windows operating system is needed to program the camera.  I only own Apple computers.  I have always only owned Macs.  My children own Macs.  Without Windows I was unable to change the application or the time stamp in the camera.  I would figure out something later.  For the present, I would only use the camera default time intervals and live with the wrong time stamp.

The camera was larger than I thought it would be.  From the images I saw online I thought it was 3" tall.  I made the above image to give you an idea of the size of the camera.  I have large hands.  If I stretch out my hand, from the tip of my small finger to the tip of my thumb is close to 10".  The actual dimensions of the camera are 3.66" x 7.55" x 2.08".

Included in the package were four Panasonic AA batteries and a 2GB USB flash drive.

The back of the TLC 100 has a locking mechanism that closes securely.  Once open, the batteries easily slipped into the appropriate holders.

It was time to choose the time intervals between exposures.  I originally chose time setting #2 or five minute intervals.  After one day of exposures I removed the flash drive and viewed the video.  I caught only two exposures of a squirrel.  That meant the squirrel was at the feeder more than five minutes but less than fifteen.  That was not enough exposures for me.  I changed the intervals to time setting #7 which is factory set at 5 seconds.

The flash drive is then inserted, the back is locked on and the camera is ready for service.

I didn't want the camera on a tripod inside the window for various reasons.  I purchased a camera mount with a suction cup to mount the camera outside to my breakfast room window.

The Brinno has a threaded socket to accept a standard 1/4-20 machine screw.  The Fat Gecko has a standard 1/4-20 stud to mount the camera.

I was now ready to place the camera outside on the window.  I cleaned the window to make the glass as smooth as possible for the best suction.

The suction cup was then placed on the glass and locked in position.  I adjusted the mount so the camera was pointed at the feeder and locked all the adjustable handles and locking rings.  I measured the distance from the camera to the feeder and placed the focus dial a the closest setting 20" - macro.

View from inside the breakfast room

I activated the power and the exposures began.

The above video was from Monday, 16 Jan 2012, three weeks to the day elapsed since I first hung the feeder.  Nothing happening in this time lapse video except wind blowing the feeder, the sun moving through the back yard and at elapsed time 0:57 through 1:00 one bird appears at the feeder.  It turns out to be a Junco.  A Junco that I stated earlier would never eat at this hanging feeder.  Mea culpa.  I would never have known this fact without the camera.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Overwintering Birds

Now that the gold finch are gone for the winter, I miss the sight of birds near my breakfast room window.  Since the equinox, early mornings have been close to silent; no songbirds singing.  Most of the songbirds have migrated south.  I still hear the calls of cardinals, cat birds, blue jays, and the occasional kveer of a Northern Flicker, but I don't hear singing.  The windows will be closed for the winter and I won't be able to hear much of the birds anyway.  I will be delighted enough to see the colors and antics of the overwintering birds through my closed windows.

Available at Lowe's item #335583

  In order to attract the overwintering birds to my window, I'm thinking I will purchase a new feeder.  A feeder that will dispense hulled sunflower seeds.  I don't like to use the whole sunflower seeds because I end up tracking the hulls indoors.  Sunflower seeds will feed chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals, jays, titmice, woodpeckers and other birds that stay the winter.  It goes without saying, the design of the feeder and its suspension system will need to be squirrel proof.  They are a challenge.  Squirrels are smart and tenacious as seen here on YouTube.

I thought of making such a feeder.  Upon deeper thinking, I decided to buy one.  

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved

Gold Finch Good-bye

About 10 days before the autumnal equinox, my black thistle socks were ravaged by tens of gold finch.  The males were very aggressive about feeding at the socks.  Two males would fight at the sock and continue to fight mid-air for ten seconds or so.  Both of my socks were totally destroyed when the finches made holes in the fabric large enough into which their heads could fit.  Of course, the seeds spilled onto the ground to a level just below the hole in the sock and gold finch will not eat the seeds off the ground.

That is black thistle seed on the concrete

I decided to make a new sock.  I searched my house for some kind of material.  I didn't have the knit fabric used in the store bought socks.  The kind of material used in sport clothing.  I'm not nor ever have been, what you would call, athletic.  

Fabricline.com

In my garage what I found was window screening material that I thought had openings large enough through which the seeds would fit.  I found some thick thread in the sowing basket and proceeded to make the sock.

10" x 24"

I didn't measure the screen but cut about 10" of material from the roll of 48" wide screening.  I then cut that into approximately two pieces 10" by 24".  

10" x 24" doubled now 5" x 24"

I folded the width so that I had two 5" wide layers and only two sides to sow.  I threaded the needle having the largest hole and began to sew the short end closed.  I put the needle in the fourth set of holes from the cut edge.  I figured that the fourth set of holes would be far enough from the edge to reduce the chance of the seam ripping apart due to the weight of the seeds.  This size sock would probably hold 2 lbs. of seed when full.  I consciously used strong knots at the end of each run of thread.  I then turned the sock inside out.  In no time at all, the sock was ready to fill with black thistle seeds.


I used a funnel with a large throat to fill the sock and tapped the sock on my kitchen counter to get in the maximum amount of seed.  I then cut a 10" length of 1/8" cord.  I used an overhand knot in the loose ends and formed a circular cord.  I then gathered and twisted the top of the sock made from the screening material.  Placed the circular cord around the gathered and twisted sock and slipped the doubled cord into itself and pulled the longer end of the cord, tightening it around the sock.


Now it was time to test the finches ability to get the seeds out through the screening.  I hung my new feeder next to one of the store bought sock feeders.  I figured by placing the new feeder next to the old feeder it would shorten the discovery time for the gold finch.

I built it, now they would come.  By the end of the second day, only one female gold finch was feeding at the new sock.  She was able to extract seeds.  My creation was a success, sort of.  

The one an only female gold finch I saw feeding had ripped the screening material to get to the seeds.  Oh, well!  Back to the drawing board.

I will bring my new sorry feeder inside, pour all of the seeds into a sealable plastic bag and store them until next spring when the gold finches return.  Until then, I am thinking about the overwintering birds in my backyard.

©Damyon T. Verbo - all rights reserved