Looks like there are some here that will do most of what you want. The website is poorly organized but it more or less appears as though all of the wireless cameras can be used with a battery if you use the right cable to connect it. You don’t have to buy the bundles with the little bird box.
It looks like the battery setup you’d have to do with these would use a generic off-the-shelf 12v battery you connect with a cable that has alligator clips (personally, I’d modify it to something a little more secure) inside a weather-protective box. I suppose you could rig solar charging to that battery. I’m not sure if there’s something small and off-the-shelf that would do the job or if you’d have to rig up a custom solution for it.
I’m also unclear about how the camera would handle any on-board memory, if it would do loop recording or if it would require manually clearing the memory from time to time.
But, with a wifi connection, you could set up a software solution similar to what I’m doing with mine. I have computer software record continuously to a 2TB external hard drive. That drive lasts months before I need to clear it. the software I use does not do loop recording but I bet it wouldn’t be too hard to find some that does.
I considered purchasing a NVR (network video recording) box so I didn’t need to set up a computer for it, and while that would do the job, it wouldn’t have allowed me to stream to youtube. I’d have still needed a computer to do that. so I decided to skip the NVR and have the computer handle the recording, too.
Hi - yes, I think the Green Backyard cameras are probably the best option. I’ve decided on a new location, and I could run power out there much easier than to my original location. I considered running an ethernet cable and going POE like you, but I can’t quite make that work. So in the interest of simplification, I think I’ll hardwire the camera. I would much prefer loop recording to having to access the memory card. I’ll contact Green Backyard for some information regarding that.
One thing to be aware of for safety purposes is that if you run cable into your house (as opposed to doing battery/solar), you’ll want to install a surge protector that’s connected to a grounding rod pounded into the ground.
I use the POE one and got the rod and clamp from Home Depot or Lowes or something (don’t remember which).
Yeah, understandable about why you’d want loop recording. I do know that the android app that works with the camera has an option to access videos on the memory card through it. since I don’t actually have a memory card, I don’t have access to any options regarding it. that tab in the app just shows up as blank. so I don’t know if loop recording is an option, or is standard behavior, or if you have to manually delete from the card that way or what.
the app does allow you to manually take pictures and record video from the camera, which is handy. I’ve used that when I was away from home and unable to check the camera using the computer connected to it. and especially when I was away from home and the youtube feed went down.
Also worth noting, there are apparently some settings that the app doesn’t give you control over. it took some searching, but I learned that I could access those settings using a program on my computer called ONVIF Device Manager. Your camera will connect to your home network via wifi instead of ethernet, but you’ll still have the ability to access it with this program. The camera’s app will tell you the relevant information for the ONVIF manager to be able to connect to it. The main settings on the camera that are kinda useful to change will be the date/time settings. All you can do through the app is sync the camera time to your phone time, which will not help you when the time change happens, and it won’t change the time zone of the camera, either.
there’s a bunch of other stuff you can get to with the ONVIF app if you ever decide to stream to youtube, but that won’t be important to you at this point. but getting the timestamp right will be a good idea if you plan to put any screenshot observations on inat. I do not know if the ONVIF app would give you access to the memory card or memory card settings if the camera had that option. One thing that’s cool about the ONVIF program is that it’s device-agnostic. As long as the device allows for the connection, it will work. ONVIF is an open protocol describing network security devices (originally cameras but now it supports other stuff). I haven’t played with it, but I think you can do more stuff with it. since these green-backyard cameras have a motion sensor that you can set to trigger notifications (or recording, I presume, if you have a memory card), then I think you can set the ONVIF program up to control over devices that you have connected to it. I’m not sure what I’d want to use that for in this context, but it appears to be an option.
Hi - I did some more research and yesterday I finally ordered a nestbox cam! I went with one from Green Feathers in England. It’s a bit more expensive than the Green Backyard model, but it does loop recording which is important to me so I don’t have to access the nestbox when the SD card is full. As an aside: a 128 GB card will store around 68 hours of video (found this tid bit in the Q&A).
You can save a video to a smartphone (and from there use it any which way). You can also log into the camera via a website from a computer to watch there, the help tech responded. I think all that fits my needs, since streaming to YouTube is not on my agenda at this time.
After much thought about powering the box with a solar panel and a battery, I picked a location that will let me to hardwire it to the house. Keeps it a simpler. Thank you for the heads up on the surge protector and the ground. The ONVIF thing sounds like an interesting way to get more control over the camera, but I think it might be something at the far outer edge of my tech skills.
The Green Feathers camera will arrive next week, and then we’ll run some tests before mounting it to the owl box. I have a hummingbird feeder to try this on!
I saw that company when I was looking and I know there was a reason I didn’t choose one of theirs. I just can’t remember what it was. They sell some options that look pretty good. And their product pages have much better and clearer explanations of their capabilities.
Can’t wait to read about your experience with setting it up and your impressions of it once it’s running.
The nest box cam arrived last week and I have tested it both day and night. It works! I’m happy with the app, it was easy to install and it does what I want it to do. Formats the SD card for you, and you can record to the smartphone. Hard to tell the resolution as I’ve only tested it in longer focus applications which are not what I’ll use it for in the nest box. You can customize the area where it senses the motion. The customer support said you can view the cam via weblink, that’s one thing I haven’t tried yet. I’m not sure if web links might expose my wifi to hacking, so I’m not sure if I’m going to go there.
The camera is very nice and small. I wonder if you didn’t get it @naturalist_nate because it is not labeled as waterproof. Next step is to mount it to the owl box and build a waterproof enclosure. And of course run power to the mounting location.
Interesting ideas. I looked at trail cams but didn’t find anything I could have fit. I’m also not sure about the focal length on those, if that’s suitable for such close quarters?
If it works out I’d be curious to hear more about your set up.
Two things you need to focus on getting right for this application are going to be device size/form factor to ensure you can place it where you want and the focal distance.
IME, game cameras tend to be pretty large, so putting them INSIDE a bird box would require a pretty large box.
Game cameras also tend to have longer focal distances. I did my master’s degree research with game cameras and ran a bunch of tests to figure out the best setup for my application. I seemed to get really solid results with the target about 2m from my cameras. That gave me wiggle room on both ends to still get solid results if the subject was a little farther away or a little bit closer. If the subject was really close to my game cameras (like the sorts of distances my owl box camera is from its target area), results would be VERY poor. the subject would be very out of focus and would also be very washed out because the flash (either IR or standard) is more intense to illuminate farther.
Also with a bird box camera, you’re likely to be getting a decent amount of nighttime footage so the type of IR flash is important. You want an IR flash that’s no-glow if you can get it (sometimes you’ll never know because that spec isn’t provided by the seller/manufacturer). Birds and other wildlife can frequently see into the IR spectrum some, especially if they’re a species active at night. If the IR flash is very visible to them, that disturbance might make your box less desirable to use or affect their behavior when they’re using it.
some webcams might work because they tend to have a shorter focal distance. figuring out power and data transmission on something like that might be trickier since tons of webcams use the usb interface that’s not exactly intended for outdoor use or long distances. this is one reason I went power-over-ethernet because it solved both power and data transmission and ethernet cable is relatively easy to lay the length you want in a durable outdoor-protected cable and install connectors yourself. the cable I used is rated for direct bury, but to protect it from possible shovels later on (when I forget exactly where I buried it), I put it inside pvc conduit.
hm, yeah, definitely look into security of the thing before you look into setting up/using a weblink to view footage. The one I use is password protected to begin with, but the link I use to set up the feed to youtube also isn’t one you can really open in a web browser. Although I suppose you might if there was software available through a browser interface to access that. I use standalone programs for those purposes, but there very well may be a web program that can do it.
I think I didn’t buy a camera from the same company you did because they were unavailable/out of stock at the time. A mundane/boring answer. I don’t think my camera is particularly waterproof either. But being mounted inside the box, that’s fine. the box protects it from direct moisture.
