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Post by Amanda on May 1, 2020 12:24:52 GMT
Lovely photo!! Really clear!!! And Hey...I didn't realise there was a focus function on the 700TVL Sony Effio cameras?? Thats what I have in the Cedar sideview and top view boxes. I did try once before, but there didn't seem to be any 'give' at the top the lens....perhaps the focus 'cog' is somewhere else? Is it? Because mine is most definitely out of focus in the Beaktrix box, and I'd love to fix that. This is where my ‘cog’ is. I twist the end to get the focus right, then carefully tighten the ‘cog’
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Post by Deleted on May 1, 2020 13:25:15 GMT
I got the same problem as you with the sparrows benn, put a couple of handfull of meal worms out and like you say with the sparrows there gone in no time, hence my GT's hav'nt found the meal worms yet. Great vids. Cheers Pete, I had the mealies in my cage with all the openings fully but the sparrows had them in no time and chased away the Robins. I then used plastic ties to reduce only the lower entrances which I did last year. This defeats the sparrows but sadly also the Robins who haven't sussed that they can enter via the top entrances. The only winners are the Great Tits who are nesting at the end of the street. They are the bold and clever uns. The Robins seem to be doing ok and finding lots of different wild food from spiders, flying insects, caterpillars and small worms and small slugs. Then they can feed on the mealies I take out of the cage at dusk and at dawn.
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Post by greatbluehopeful on May 2, 2020 9:32:34 GMT
Thanks for the picture Amanda....I don't recall seeing a 'cog' like that on my camera...I don't believe their is one.
However, I do think like Benn says, there is a 'grub screw' that can be loosened to enable the focus of the camera....I'll definitely look into this when everything dies down in the season.
Good luck with the mealies Benn...I'm looking into seeing if I can get some. There is an Irish online place selling a box for €4.50 (£4.00 ish) but it doesn't say how many you get??? I bet for that price I'd only get 10 or something!!!
What size box is the average amount?...and how much do you guys pay?
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Post by WildlifePaul on May 2, 2020 12:06:43 GMT
If your camera is the 700 wired black ones off spycamera / greenfeathers you will see a little screw under the lens of the camera GBH like ben said, You unscrew that and you can focus the lens. Amanda's is an POE camera that is why you don't have the clog thing, But if you remove the little screw under the lens you can move the lens and focus it more.
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2020 12:15:01 GMT
Thanks for the picture Amanda....I don't recall seeing a 'cog' like that on my camera...I don't believe their is one. However, I do think like Benn says, there is a 'grub screw' that can be loosened to enable the focus of the camera....I'll definitely look into this when everything dies down in the season. Good luck with the mealies Benn...I'm looking into seeing if I can get some. There is an Irish online place selling a box for €4.50 (£4.00 ish) but it doesn't say how many you get??? I bet for that price I'd only get 10 or something!!! What size box is the average amount?...and how much do you guys pay? I paid £10.38 including delivery for 500 grams from "Livefoodsdirect" on eBay. Ive never counted them but they 3/4 fill the standard round metal biscuit tin I keep them in. There might be cheaper to be found but these are the best quality I have had.
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Benn 2020
May 2, 2020 12:32:01 GMT
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Post by Taz on May 2, 2020 12:32:01 GMT
We get ours from pets at home. They have an offer of 3 for 2.
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Post by greatbluehopeful on May 3, 2020 8:11:50 GMT
Thanks for the info...I get the impression that the box for €4.50 will only be a 50g box....I've seen these small plastic cartons in the pet shops and they have a tiny amount in them - just wish it would say on the description - wouldn't online shops be helpful if they did that!!?
So I'll look further into it online and see if your places post to Ireland.
As for the lens, yes, I'll definitely spend an afternoon some day soon fluting around with that lens focus so. Still holding out at 'last chance saloon' for a bird to decide to nest in either of the other two boxes...I'll know my goose is definitely cooked by 1st June! lol!!!
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2020 20:02:46 GMT
Been watching the Robins most of the day. I find them fascinating. I have noticed other the last fortnight that at times their Autumn and Winter territorial instincts are never far from the surface as I witness the female suddenly chasing her mate out of the garden!!!
Then they could not be more of a couple as they enter the watering can together and he diligently passes the mealworm to her.
The best bit has been this last two evenings as dusk settles in. All the Sparrows, Tits, Dunnocks and Starlings have gone to bed and I put out a small bowl of mealies just for them. After 10 or so minutes of frenzied feeding by both adults, the week old chicks are satiated and unresponsive. The adults leave and enter a few times with a mealworm then give up.
They then both sit in our tallest tree ( only a scrawny 10 year old cherry blossom of 15 feet that has survived the moorland winds) together for about 20 mins as it goes dark quite near each other in contentment.
Eventually Mrs Robin goes to warm her brood overnight before a 4:30am start before any other garden bird is about and the bowl of mealies is still there for them.
It is a pity that the brood is only 3 as I am sure they could easily have raised 7 given the good weather and food supply. I am hoping she chooses another place in our garden for her second or third nesting attempt this summer, I am leaving my shed door open and have made robin friendly gaps between stuff on my shelves.
Love these birds!!!!
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Benn 2020
May 3, 2020 20:20:17 GMT
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Post by Taz on May 3, 2020 20:20:17 GMT
That is such a lovely story Benn. Hopefully they will nest in your shed for another brood. 🤞
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2020 21:39:48 GMT
And just having written that, we see she has not returned to warm the week old chicks tonight. Now she was not warming them during today as they are bigger. However, unlike Starlings and Tits the chicks still have no proper feathers! just hoping this is a Robin thing. Fingers crossed they dont chill overnight,
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Post by karenupnorth on May 4, 2020 6:22:45 GMT
Hope all is well this morning.
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Post by Taz on May 4, 2020 7:19:20 GMT
Fingers crossed Benn, hopefully they'll still thrive 🤞
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Post by suep on May 4, 2020 8:11:44 GMT
Hope she has returned this morning Benn, and chicks are ok Sue
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Post by greatbluehopeful on May 4, 2020 8:51:43 GMT
Yes...curious to know what the update is?
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Post by Deleted on May 4, 2020 9:07:22 GMT
Hi All, Sorry about keeping you in suspense but wifi playing up again! All is good. After being on their own all night they started feeding mealies at 4:55am and all 3 chicks were alive. I think they are still ok but the light in the box is not too great at the moment and they seem lethargic perhaps having been given lots of the mealworms earlier on. It was pretty chilly up here last night too! Mrs Blue tit is sitting on 10 eggs this morning. Zero activity in the sideview box this weekend so I guess that is that! Current live stream: Benns stream
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Benn 2020
May 4, 2020 10:45:49 GMT
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Post by Taz on May 4, 2020 10:45:49 GMT
That's good Benn, glad they're still around
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Post by petesbox on May 4, 2020 10:49:36 GMT
That was a bit of a releaf benn.
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Post by WildlifePaul on May 5, 2020 10:59:06 GMT
Glad everything ended up ok with the robin Benn, How is the second BT nest coming along?
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Post by suep on May 5, 2020 13:14:00 GMT
So pleased all ok Benn Sue
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2020 13:28:45 GMT
Thanks Sue.
All quiet at the moment. Very sunny here but Easterly gusts are keeping the temps down at 11C though it feels more like 7 or 8C. Mrs Blue tit is happily incubating 10 eggs but gets no visits from her hubby who seems to have taken up with the second female who started to build in my shed sideview box. She seemed to abandon this last Thursday and just today I saw her at our feeder with Mr Blue tit whilst Mrs was on the eggs. She picked up some white fur/fluff and flew down the gardens towards the end house where the Great tits nest. So I've removed the sideview from my live feed. Just feel sorry for my remaining female as it looks like hubby has deserted her! She has to leave the eggs quite often to visit the feeder.
The 3 Robin chicks are fine and spent the second cool night alone without a problem. They are being well fed with large mealworms at dawn and dusk as I put out a full bowl at 8:30pm when the sparrows and starlings have gone to bed. The feeding has become very sporadic during the late morning and afternoon and they simply sleep and do not appear to be very hungry as they dont seem to stir much when the parents enter with the odd bit of naturl food.
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Post by Taz on May 5, 2020 14:41:32 GMT
Hopefully things will change when they start hatching. Mine wasn't particularly well fed during incubation, but now they don't stop.
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Post by Deleted on May 5, 2020 15:12:56 GMT
Hopefully things will change when they start hatching. Mine wasn't particularly well fed during incubation, but now they don't stop. Hope so Taz. I just cant figure whether the back garden male is the same one that fathered the eggs in my wall box near the front of the house. It might not be and it could be the father is simply a lazy sod!
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Post by Taz on May 5, 2020 15:17:12 GMT
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Post by hfriel on May 5, 2020 17:51:28 GMT
Thanks Sue. All quiet at the moment. Very sunny here but Easterly gusts are keeping the temps down at 11C though it feels more like 7 or 8C. Mrs Blue tit is happily incubating 10 eggs but gets no visits from her hubby who seems to have taken up with the second female who started to build in my shed sideview box. She seemed to abandon this last Thursday and just today I saw her at our feeder with Mr Blue tit whilst Mrs was on the eggs. She picked up some white fur/fluff and flew down the gardens towards the end house where the Great tits nest. So I've removed the sideview from my live feed. Just feel sorry for my remaining female as it looks like hubby has deserted her! She has to leave the eggs quite often to visit the feeder. The 3 Robin chicks are fine and spent the second cool night alone without a problem. They are being well fed with large mealworms at dawn and dusk as I put out a full bowl at 8:30pm when the sparrows and starlings have gone to bed. The feeding has become very sporadic during the late morning and afternoon and they simply sleep and do not appear to be very hungry as they dont seem to stir much when the parents enter with the odd bit of naturl food. Same happened me one year Benn, not a sign of himself in the box and she seemed to go the feeder all alone but once the chicks arrived he was a different bird and fed them non stop, didn't like the poo sacs though, left most of that to herself....so I think it was Paul said that even if the male has another female on the go, he looks after his first brood and often the second female's chicks are ignored,
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Post by WildlifePaul on May 12, 2020 11:04:16 GMT
It appears Benn's deleted his account, I don't know why! I've reached out on twitter and waiting for a reply, If he replies and tells me a reason that I can share with everyone i'll let you all know. Abit sad to see this with Benn being one of our regulars.
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