Monday, April 08, 2013

GOPRO CHICKADEE CAM

I've been at it again.
This time I clamped the GoPro Hero camera to a porch column so that the lens was just about 16 inches from a new nestbox that the Chickadees have claimed as their own.

I turned the GoPro on and left it ... for about 3 hours.

Needless to say, with hungry chicks in the nest box, the parent "Dees" were recorded making many home deliveries. They were relentless in their insect slaughtering expeditions. Time between returning parent birds was about 5 minutes (average) on the raw footage. Alot of that is redundant, so I just stitched a few clips together for the YouTube video below.

If you watch it carefully, you will see numerous bugs delivered and at least once, a fecal sac from the babies is removed from the nest.

Next stop for the GoPro ... on a stake outside the big gopher burrow, or along that busy game trail, or down by the pond during the gloaming ... so many possibilities.

In the meantime, enjoy a little chickadee commuting ...




5 comments:

David said...

That was great! Nice idea for the GoPro!

Dan said...

Very nice!

Anonymous said...

Well done! Love watching those active chickadee parents.

Julie Zickefoose said...

They sure seem to appreciate that perch. Neat to see them interacting. Brilliant use of the Go-Pro. What a pretty porch, too. Aside: You feel OK about the ratsnakiness factor vis a vis that nearby pillar? Doggies got it covered?

R.Powers said...

David,
Thanks! The GoPro is infinitely flexible!

Dan, Thanks!

Robin,
Thanks Robin,
I had so many scenes like you see here, in and out, in and out ...

Zick!
The house actually came perchless, but I drilled a hole and glued in a short dowel piece. Good point on the ratsnake. That is a busy area, a pair of French doors nearby are a point of constant action by the dogs and me.
Funny, but I have gone from seeing ratsnakes constantly to never seeing them in the last year or two.