The Bird Feeder Camera: A Tragedy in Three Acts
This is a stock photo. (We don’t have cardinals in Albuquerque!)
Prologue
I received a bird feeder camera for Christmas. What a nice gift!
As a long-time watcher and feeder of birds, my main concern was that I had already cut back in recent years due to the number of critters it attracts that end up wreaking havoc in my yard and under my house and eaves. (My current, seasonal, hummingbird feeder placement seems OK, and a couple of suet feeders, too.) But I definitely wanted to give it a try!
First, I assembled the feeder and installed the app on my phone.
Next, I contacted Xfinity because I couldn’t figure out what sort of WiFi I had. This particular feeder only supports 2.4 GHz, and is not compatible with 5 GHz networks. I did know that a 5G (fifth generation) cellular network is not the same thing as 5 GHz WiFi frequency. I accepted Xfinity’s offer to reduce my WiFi frequency to 2.4 GHz, which has not seemed to inadvertently affect anything else.
Finally, I installed it in the best spot in my yard that I could think of. I even wrapped the tree trunk in stiff, spiky, plastic mesh to thwart raccoons. (I have hung feeders on the branches of this tree before with that mesh on it. The branches don’t touch anything else.)
Looks good, eh? (Except I could have tucked that white cord connecting the solar panel behind the feeder, and would have, eventually.)
Act 1: First Day and Night
No activity. Well, it was late in the day and sometimes it takes a while for birds to find their new feeder.
At least there were no unwanted intruders!
Act 2: Second Day
Not too exciting, but so far, so good. A nice pair of house finches enjoyed their newfound bounty.
That round thing on the left is a suet holder. The feeder also accommodates seeds, nuts, fruit, nectar, and other treats.
(All videos are 10 seconds long.)
Act 3: Second Night
The notification system works!
And…well…I’ll let these videos speak for themselves:
LOL?
Drat!
Epilogue
The feeder was hanging precariously when I went out to check on it. I brought the whole thing inside, lest it be dislodged by the raccoons and be sent crashing to the ground below.
And I forgot to turn off the camera.
Guess who discovered the feeder in the middle of the night?
Hi Ziggy!
I still haven’t actually figured out how to turn the camera off — despite having an instruction booklet and the internet at my disposal — and have deleted many unflattering videos of myself moving about my office, which overlooks the back yard. I tried everything I could think of, short of contacting the company directly. I may just let the battery run down while I contemplate my next move.
Who knows whether I’ll re-deploy the feeder elsewhere for birds — hope springs eternal! — or perhaps to use the camera for home security in some way?
The solution — for me — is not to bring it in each night and put it out again each day. I’ve tried that with other feeders that are easier to manage than this one. This spot was actually a little high for me even to refill the feeder periodically. (I should not be using ladders on uneven surfaces at this point in my life.) And any spot I can reach needs to be out of the reach somehow of raccoons. And skunks. And squirrels.
Alas! The best laid plans!
~ The End ~
What has been your experience with birds, critters, and/or wildlife cameras? (Or home security cameras, for that matter.)
Please share with us in the comments below!
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- Hazel Thornton is an author, genealogist, and retired home and office organizer.
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I am a bird person. I love feeding them and watching them. We are surrounded by trees, so we have lots of birds (cardinals, tufted titmice, sparrows, wrens, juncos, woodpeckers, flickers, etc.). That said, it’s always a struggle because we also have tons of squirrels. I have a baffle on my feeder that sits on a pole. Last year, I had squirrels physically eating the plastic of the baffle… sigh.
I did receive a Bird Buddy™ last summer. It was a challenge to set it up and get it close enough to the house to use the WIFI. I did get images of squirrels on it as often as I did birds. I finally switched to only thistle seed in the bird buddy, and that was working until… the polar vortex overtook my area.
We had a big snowfall a couple of weeks ago that blew and drifted. I actually can’t get out to the bird feeder or the Bird Buddy™, which I feel bad about since it is SO CRAZY COLD that I know everybody is hungry.
My battery has also run down, but again… can’t reach it to bring it in and charge it.
I think feeding birds is sort of a “sport” for people who tolerate a lot of frustration interspersed with happy moments.
Pretty soon it was get warm enough for the starlings, which descend and drain my feeders in about 20 minutes.
I don’t feed in the summer because it attracts a lot of varmints. Raccoons normally go for the garbage cans around here, more than my bird feeder. But we certainly have them! Taking a break for the summer months makes me feel like doing it all over again next fall LOL!
People who don’t love birds always wonder if they really need to be fed. I always admit it’s not for them, it’s for me. It’s so they will come to my yard where I can enjoy them! I wouldn’t even mind feeding the other critters, but they can be so destructive. I’ve spent more than I care to say on replacing feeders and evicting them and keeping them from setting up residence under my house and under my roof. I thought my bird feeding days were (sort of) over until I received this gift. (I still feed hummingbirds, and seem to have got the knack of protecting those feeders from other critters.)
For me, this was very entertaining. For you, very frustrating! Still kinda disappointed to see your gift put on the sideline.
For many years I had a birdfeeder when I lived in NY and enjoyed over 29 bird species. Yes, I too fed them for my entertainment. To keep critters away, my husband planted a 4×4 post in the middle of the yard, away from tree limbs and shrubbery, and inserted an 8” metal stovepipe over the post, from top to bottom. The feeder was secured to the post at the very top using ‘L’ brackets. The overall height was about 6’, low enough for me to reach to refill. It worked perfectly. Because of the stovepipe’s circumference and metal composition, raccoons, squirrels (and other rodents) couldn’t climb the post, thereby ensuring an undisturbed feeder. That thing lasted over 30 years and remained there even after we moved away. Maybe something to consider for your future.
Hi Sheila! I’m glad you enjoyed my post, and am glad you and your husband found a solution that worked for you! The thing is, it is getting more challenging, physically, for me to maintain bird feeders no matter where they are placed. I don’t know if you’ve seen my post called Not all disabilities are visible – ?
I have a lot of birdfeeders – some have been more frustrating than fun.
Unless I put one on a pole in the middle of the yard far away from trees and with a good baffle for squirrels, I end up feeding more squirrels than birds, but I do love the birds that I see.
The suet feeders do better than the feeders with seeds.
The only critter safe place I have in under the eaves on my deck.
I enjoyed your videos! Thanks for sharing.
Hi Jonda! I do have luck with my strategically-placed suet and hummingbird feeders. And I’ve hung suet on the branches of this particular tree with the stiff, spiky, plastic mesh before as well. On one of my poles I installed a Slinky which also works. I guess this new contraption (with seeds) was too much to resist!