Jack’s bird box has been kicking around for ages and I’d like to make use of it. He enjoyed making it, and I asked him and Annabel if they’d like to gadget it up a bit and finish it off by adding a night vision camera to keep an eye on any birds that may choose to nest, and painting, draft proofing, and attaching it to the house. Annabel really liked the idea.
I bought a load of cheap bits and Annabel put together a Raspberry Pi computer after I’d set up the Linux operating system on the micro SD card. She plugged all the parts together herself, including the Pi noir camera that doesn’t have an infrared filter, and powered it up.
Tinkering
Jack made a bird house a while ago with Scouts and while a great project in itself it hasn’t yet been used. We have attracted a lot of birds to the garden, including a family of bluetits that nested in the eaves or attic of a house opposite our garden. We also have some robins and larger birds like jackdaws, blackbirds, magpies and the odd wren. Maybe we could encourage some to best in Jack’s bird box.
I think we can take it a step further though and add a bit of gadgetry to get more out of this if some birds decide to nest. Annabel and I will have a crack at this on the weekend and I’ll post some more photos and describe what we’re doing then.