More

I continue inching the 1D/wide angle camera trap closer to the box. From today, lens set at about 30mm on 1D Mark II:

Wide angle

I've been concerned that the shutter noise from the ancient 1D Mark II would scare the birds away, but they seem to have gotten used to it. These are with a 35mm lens set very close to the bird bath/nest box. The PIR is mounted right on top of the camera rather than using the wireless. The wireless works great, but this setup requires that much less preparation.

Album

Since I first pointed the trailcams at the bird box and baths a few months ago, I've accumulated tens of thousands of images. It would be impossible to post a generous sample using methods I've used in the past, so I've selected several hundred for a Google album. These are all trailcam images; I will continue to post DSLR images in the usual manner here and on my web site. Click on this link to see the bluebirds and lots of other visitors to our yard in Montana. The images are in chronological order starting June 12, 2021, and I may continue adding to this album for another month or so.

Google Album Link - Backyard Trailcam 2021

The DSLR camera trap and remote trigger images I've taken have been with longer lenses up to 500mm. With a long lens, it is difficult to get depth of field even with a small aperture of f/11 or f/16. This image is with a different setup than I've tried previously. I used the 1D Mark II with a wide angle 17-35 lens set at 35mm. The depth of field is very good even at f/8 with only the cropped-out bottom of the image slightly fuzzy. The camera is only a couple feet from the subject so I mounted the Camtraptions PIR directly on top of the camera and didn't use the wireless receiver. However, I'm concerned that with the camera so close, the shutter noise will scare the birds away, particularly using the ancient and noisy 1D Mark II. We'll see.

First Light

One reason for all the bird images I've been gathering this summer is practice for bigger game. After 10 months of yard duty I was able to deploy the two Reconyx cameras in the national forest south of Red Lodge, MT four weeks ago. The plan is to leave at least one of them in place all winter. So far, I've gotten a bear, moose, deer, cat (probably feral), and various people with and without dogs. Pictured here are the bear and the moose, both taken by the old Reconyx. I'm thinking about moving the new Reconyx further up the mountain, which should eliminate some of the people/dogs. Or I might pull it out of there if I find an even better place for it.

New Birdbath

Before buying a birdbath, I set a water-filled plant tray on the ground for a few weeks to see if the birds would come. They did. So I took the plunge and bought a faux copper (colored plastic) birdbath for the yard. The bluebirds seem to approve. Canon 1D Mark II, 70-200 lens set at 104mm, Camtraptions PIR trigger, ISO 400, f/11, 1/320.

Robins

I felt like I was missing some shots with the PIR triggering just three shots in three seconds per actuation, so I decided to set the DSLR to low-speed burst. With the 1D Mark II, that results in 12 shots in about four seconds. I could set it to high-speed burst, but that would be overkill and result in way too many images to sort through. As it is, I'm going with the 1D to save to save wear and tear on my better camera, the 5D Mark III. These were all with the prefocused 500mm at a low angle. Depth of field is the most frustrating thing about this setup as anything behind the rock is not in sharp focus even at f/16.

It was a weird day and all that came to the bath were some robins. I don't go after robins, but if that's all that is around, that's what you get.

Bath time

I've been posting lots of images on this site that are remote triggered rather than motion triggered, which may be bending the purpose of a site with "Trailcam" in the title. Today I finally got more than a few motion-triggered DSLR images that represent what I'm trying to accomplish. The setup was the 5D Mark III, 500mm lens, a very low tripod, and the Camtraptions trigger. I don't have the protective cases or external batteries necessary to set up a long-term camera trap, but in my back yard I can set up for the day and get dozens of images. Today I got bluebirds and robins competing for space at the bird bath; hopefully the flickers that the trailcam captured make a return appearance soon.

Fun with shutter speeds

The problem with using f/16 to get depth of field is it requires a much slower shutter speed or much higher ISO. My M100 selected ISO 160 in automatic mode, so the shutter speed is only 1/60. An interesting effect, but ISO 160 is too low to shoot birds unless they aren't moving. Remotely triggered using cell phone app.

Bath

I set out mealworms for bluebirds a few months ago and got no interest from them. I decided before investing in a bird bath, I would try a makeshift setup to see if they would use it. I used a plastic plant tray with a big rock anchoring it. When we left on vacation two weeks ago, I focused melted Browning #6 on it. I reviewed the results today.

The melted Browning snapped 7,372 images with relatively few false triggers. Most of the subjects were bluebirds, but I also got various little brown birds, a goldfinch, a meadowlark, three flickers, robins, deer, mice, and even a dog and a cat. I'm only posting the flickers and the meadowlark because I think those are the most significant. I could post literally thousands of bluebird images but I need to get better image quality than the melted Browning provides.