The nestbox was built in 2003, and it was six years before any birds decided to use it. The original camera (pictured above) was purchased from Handykam and installed in the autumn of 2015, when the nest was unoccupied. It had a resoultion of 640x480.

The camera was replaced in 2019 after first one failed. The new one has slightly better resolution (720x576), but is otherwise very similar to the first. It was acquired from SpyCameraCCTV branded as "Green Feathers Bird Box Camera with Sony Chip & Night Vision", and cost around £40.

The camera has built-in infrared lights that allow the it to operate in the dark without disturbing the residents. It automatically switches to colour when there is sufficient light. The unit has three connectors - one is for the power, the other two are for video and audio. A rather long extension cable connects the camera to the house. The red connector is attached to the 12V/1A power supply. The yellow and white connectors could be connected to a television or audio-visiual device with composite inputs.

This camera is connected to a computer. It uses a video capture USB adapter, which could be connected to a Windows PC / laptop. However, this one is connected to a Linux system, which adds a bit of complication but a lot more flexibility, such as integration with this website.

The computer uses the following hardware:

• Raspberry Pi 4 Model B 2Gb
• ezcap video capture USB adapter

It uses the following software:

• Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
• em28xx USB device driver - some fun and games was had trying to find the right settings
• motion - takes a picture each time it detects motion. It also takes a snapshot picture every minute, which finds its way to this website in a way that is more complex than you would guess.
• ffmpeg - to record video snippets