Wildlife Watching – camera on trial and prize draw for readers

/ karen

One of the joys of gardening is sharing my plot with wildlife. When I see hedgehogs, it makes my day. When the same hedgehogs emerge from the shrubbery with a family of babies, well, I couldn’t be happier. I’ve given them a home, and it’s simply wonderful to see them thriving.

Today I received a wildlife observation camera to try out on the plot. It took me 20 minutes to read the instructions and set it up, and it has been a constant source of joy all afternoon- and into the evening. There’s an infra red camera to watch after dark.

I set up the camera by the horseshoe pond and placed a suet block in front. It took birds a few hours to find the food, and they were suspicious at first. Then a robin and bluetit tucked in to the treat. The picture is really clear, and you can switch on the sound as well. It’s lovely to hear birdsong while you are working indoors.

The wildlife observation camera comes from Wildlife World. Everything is packed in eco friendly cardboard. The little postcard with a ‘thank you for your order’ message is a nice touch. We enjoyed the chocolates while fathoming out the instructions.

This is what’s in the box. There’s the wire-free outdoor camera, a box with a mounting bracket, a user guide, some screws, batteries, and a USB cable for charging.

The only assembly I needed to do was screwing the mounting bracket to the bottom of the camera. The batteries were already installed. I expect the camera could be attached to a house wall to watch a bird table, or near a nest box to watch birds and hatchlings. I want to watch a particular blackbird that comes to the pond in late afternoon every day. It spends a good ten minutes splashing around in the shallows. And I’m hoping to catch sight of the hedgehogs as I know they also visit the pond at night.

Here’s what the picture looks like at dusk. If we are very lucky, we might even see the barn owl flying along the boundary. He visits us every evening, silently gliding along the hedgerow like a ghost.

These are screen shots from my i-pad. I haven’t worked out how to share videos from the camera yet, but it’s early days and I’ll have to read through the instructions again.

At about 9pm, great excitement! A grass snake slithered over the stones and into the water. I hadn’t realised they were out and about just yet. But we’ve had two days with sunshine and warm weather. All evening I was glued to the screen watching a tiny mouse dart back and forth hoovering up bird feed crumbs. I took the suet block in for the night in case it attracted rats. And also I didn’t want the hedgehogs to eat it. They have their own special meaty-type food.

Here’s a sample of the instructions for setting it up. I had to go on to the App Store, find ‘ToSee’ and download the free app. It took about ten minutes to sort that out. I was quite pleased with myself, as I’m hopeless with any kind of technology. It was fairly straightforward and the camera connected with the app first time. I then carried the camera outdoors and set it down by the pond. Tomorrow I might move it to another location. When you close down the i-pad or phone, the camera sends a signal if it detects any animal movements. It’s quite a distraction from work!

Overall, I’m delighted with the ease of setting up, the quality of the picture and the welcome little extras such as sound and night time viewing. I have no hesitation recommending the Wildlife World observation camera. It is powered by rechargeable battery and has motion detection by PIR sensor.

I’m working from home now for the foreseeable future. The wildlife camera is part of my ‘coping with panic’ strategy. Corona virus is very much uppermost in my mind, as it is for all of you, I’ve no doubt. But I’ve decided to try to think of something each day that will bring me joy and ease my worries. Concentrating on gardening and nature soothes and heals. I’ve found this to be true twice before when I’ve been seriously ill. And now, like many, I must find coping strategies again, and ways to stay positive when there just seems to be bad news every day.

Please leave a comment below to be included in the prize draw for a wildlife observation camera. Names will be randomly selected by the company. Sorry it’s UK entries only. There’s no cash alternative. Camera types may vary. Wildlife World company decisions are final. Usual rules apply. Please also comment if you don’t want to be entered in the draw and let me know.

Keep safe, and I hope you can all get out and enjoy your gardens too. xx

Links: Wildlife World https://www.wildlifeworld.co.uk/product/wirelesswildlifeobservationcamera/

48 thoughts on “Wildlife Watching – camera on trial and prize draw for readers”

  1. Pingback: Winners! Thank you for entering the prize draws on this blog. Here are the recent winners’ names: | Bramble Garden

  2. Thank you. I’d love to be able to give a gift like this to my parents. They’ve just moved into a retirement apartment and have spotted badgers in the communal garden.

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  3. Karen your garden is a refuge for wildlife. Seeing hedgehogs with their babies makes your day happy, I would make a whole month happy. The infrared wildlife observation camera at night is magnificent, I love it. Being able to see on your i-pad all the animals that pass through its range of action, such as birds eating, snakes and little mice, I love it. The screenshots are great and sharp. I am glad from your heart that you have decided to confront the Coronavirus concentrating on gardening and nature. But the Covid-19 must stop being so important in your mind: don’t obsess over it. The Coronavirus is there but there is nothing you can do to make it disappear: just be patient and that time passes and it is finished. I know words are easy, but I try to cheer you up my good friend. The camera has been a great idea !! Enjoy it !! I have read in the comments that your two daughters are helping the infected patients: I wish with all my heart that nothing bad happens to them. They will not spread. They have the same spirit of altruistic help as their Mother and the same heart of gold. Say hello and lots of love from me. Karen a lot of health, a lot of strength, a lot of encouragement, positive energy, a lot of hope and a lot of love for all your family, your two daughters, Mr B and yourself. Take good care of all of you and stay safe. Loving caresses for Grace and Meg. Much love for everyone and all the best. Very affectionate greetings from Margarita xxx

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  4. Pingback: Six on Saturday: 21.3.20 – Wild Parenting

  5. Hi Karen, Makes me realise that I have yet to use my wildlife camera properly. I will sort it out straight away. These are depressing times. Please look after yourself. I hope you are in isolation with your medical issues. If you want to relax come over to our garden. We should keep 2m apart but I am sure you would enjoy walking around.

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    • Thank you Steve. I would love to come over. Sadly I can’t go anywhere yet because both daughters are working in front-line nursing on virus wards and with disabled children. I can’t pass anything to them or they won’t be able to help others. And I’m trying to keep my distance from them so I don’t catch it. It is indeed a nightmare. Your garden will be the very first place I visit as soon as we are given the all clear. Whenever that will be. Sending love to you both. Stay at home for as long as you can. There will be a peak in the next fortnight and it’s thought there will be a complete lockdown with children sent home. After that, the weather will start improving and cases will drop. Xxx

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  6. I’ve just found an enormous hole underneath my greenhouse, much too big for rats, and this would be the perfect tool to find out whether it’s friend or foe! My allotment is my place of self isolation and sanity at the moment.

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    • Thank you. I’m really impressed with it so far. Looking forward to viewing my hedgehogs at night. Thanks again for reading the blog and getting in touch. Good luck in the draw.

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    • Thank you! Yes, children would love it! It’s going to be hard to keep children at home and occupied. Good idea. I’ll share that with others. Thanks for reading. Good luck in the draw 🙂👍

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  9. That is such a great idea! I would love to be entered in the draw Karen… I am also a little hesitant with new technology, but have resolved to give anything a go this year to keep the little grey cells active! 😉 If I had one of these cameras I would no doubt see an awful lot of mice, but hopefully a hare who visits regularly (and nibbles plants!). Hope you see your hedgehogs! Take care and keep thinking positive! Love Cathy xx

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    • Thank you Cathy. Honestly, I managed to get it working I’m quite hopeless with everything technology-wise. It’s so lovely to be sitting indoors working and be watching the birds in the garden. Another way to enjoy my plot. Good luck in the draw. x

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  10. Wow, the picture is so clear! We had a wildlife camera to film the otters in our little garden and around our boat but it stopped working during the last storm.

    Would love to see what you capture of the hedgehogs as we haven’t seen any in years.

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    • Thank you Suzanne. The picture is really clear. Such a delight to see what’s going on out there while I’m indoors getting on with tasks. We have seen the hedgehogs out in the orchard at night. Hopefully we will catch them on camera when they come to the pond. Good luck in the draw. And thanks for reading.

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  12. Karen How wonderful. Your growing successes neab that you will get further information of interest to all your mny readers. I do so appreciate all your sharing. that camera certainly looks possible for me to set up. Your pond placement sounds particulary appropriate. And nice to see your summerhouse in the background too.
    Be well.

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    • Thank you Suella. It’s really is simple to set up. Thank goodness. It’s so exciting to watch the night time infra red camera. Endless amounts of time being spent watching and enjoying all the wildlife using the plot. Thanks again.Stay safe over there. xx

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  13. Aw Wow!! This sounds wonderful & will really help you connect even more to nature! We have little feeding stations set up at home that we watch from the window & sometimes with binoculars. It sounds relatively user friendly & an added bonus of eco friendly packaging too!! I look forward to hearing/seeing many updates from you 🙂

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  14. That looks really nice quality. I’ve been looking at genuinely wireless varieties and that looks pretty good for the price. I’ve loaded a lot of the 20kg bags of bird food into cars. A lot of people planning to take solace in wildlife in these strange times.

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    • I think you are right. I’ve stocked up via that gardening tv site. Never brought anything from them before, but was attracted to the price and the delivery, meaning I wouldn’t have to carry it. We are all trying to find ways to cope with the crisis. Keep safe over there. Thanks for reading and good luck in the draw.

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  15. Super little product Karen! I look forward to seeing some fascinating videos and pictures. It has inspired me to get my old one out of the cupboard! Unfortunately it’s not as easy to use and setup as yours. But I’ll give it another go.

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    • Thank you Denzil. I was relieved it was easy to set up. I think there were only three steps and we were up and running. I’m buying another one for the orchard where the hedgehogs live. All the best. Karen

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  16. We have hedgehogs, but only see the messages they leave, I have only seen them a couple of times so a camera would be wonderful.
    My garden will be my salvation while I’m self isolating, out there with my plants and the bees and birds, couldn’t be better!

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    • Yes, my garden is already proving my salvation. I pricked out the cosmos yesterday. Each day I’ll do one tray. The tomatoes and aubergines need doing today. And cucumbers are coming along nicely. I go from thinking this is all irrelevant, to thinking gardening is top priority. What strange times we are in. Stay safe. Thanks for reading and good luck in the draw.

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  17. Sounds great fun & fab distraction to troubling times❤️ I think I’ve got badgers visiting but not seen them so would love a Wildlife World remote camera to try to do so👏🏻🌟 Thank you

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    • I was amazed too. I expect it will eat all my baby frogs. That’s nature. I’m enjoying watching some long tail tits today. Should really be cleaning the house in case we all go down with the virus. But watching the birds is much more soothing. Good luck in the draw.

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  19. What a lovely idea! Last year we had hedgehogs for the first time, attracted by spilled sunflower seed from the bird feeder. However, a squirrel is now hoovering up the spillage and I don’t want to encourage the foxes by leaving hedgehog food out all night. A wildlife camera would allow us to see whether the hedgehogs are back!

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  21. Karen, a lovely post. I enlarged the picture of the pond, scouring the scene for the spot where the camera was placed. That is a really large suet block.
    We’ve started our own day one of stay at home as far as is practicable, no visiting from now on. We’ll all just have to keep chatting on WP. 🙂

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    • Lovely! I’ve only recently heard of these cameras. I have hedgehogs come into my garden and I’m hoping to get a wildlife camera to see what else makes its way through. I’m pretty sure I saw a badger once!

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    • Thank you. Yes we are day two. I’m resigned to it. Was quite upset yesterday, but pulled myself together today snd thought of a campaign to get through this. Lots of gardening goodies coming up. Keep safe. Ps.the photo was a screen shot from the camera. So it was behind the photo, if you see what I mean. I’ll take one tomorrow of the camera in situ. Plus hoping to get some screen shots of hedgehogs. They are out, I just don’t know how to do it yet.

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      • Good stuff. We get hedgehogs pottering through our ‘meadow’. Prickles aside, I find them quite adorable.
        Now Crows, the very clever birds that they are, decimated the suet rods we put out in five minutes. We’re thinking how best to give the wee birdies a turn!

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