Nest box camera - (page 1)
HANDYKAM camera and bird box review

(Page added on 26th September 2007)

Two of the most frequently asked questions of site visitors are (1) 'What make of camera do you use in your bird box?' and (2) 'How do I go about fitting a camera inside a nest box?'

My Nest Box Kit from HANDYKAM.COM was delivered promptly and was extremely well packaged. A great deal of thought has gone into both the nest box design and the accessories. The roof is felt covered and has a generous overhang to keep the interior dry. The floor is slightly recessed and the sides project below the floor to prevent water from seeping inside. The box is made using 19mm thick timber to ensure good insulation for the occupants. The wood is Cornish sourced (mine is in cedar) and is FSC approved i.e. it's from managed Forest Stewardship Council timber. The box is pre assembled, is fastened together with stainless steel screws and has an oiled exterior. It's as much a work of art as a nest box! A nice touch are the translucent resin windows that provide additional lighting for the supplied colour camera. A removable front panel provides easy access for cleaning and enables the box to be converted into an open fronted box, suitable for robins and other species.

Click on any of the pictures below for an enlarged view

The well packaged HANDYKAM kit	All components are clearly labelled	Nest box - side view, with resin windows	The HANDYKAM colour camera, with black & white night time vision

The supplied high resolution camera (380 lines) produces colour images in good lighting conditions. As light level decrease the images automatically revert to black and white, and these are boosted with infra red light emitting diodes (LEDs) enabling you to view the birds in dark conditions. There's a built in microphone as standard. I consider a microphone an essential. When the chicks are fed, sound is almost as important as the picture!

The accessories supplied with the kit are truly phenomenal. I cannot think of anything that's omitted! HANDYKAM even supply you with a 400mm long masonry drill, wall plugs and a appropriate sized masonry drill, stainless steel fixing screws, plus aluminium nails for tree fixing, bird box fixing wire, cable clips, mesh guards for the resin windows and plate adaptors to restrict the entrance hole to smaller birds. There are even small pieces of plastic pipe to prevent the fixing wire from damaging the tree bark, waterproof foam bungs to fill in the cable entry hole that's been drilled into your house wall, a lens focussing chart and a bag of cedar shavings to help prevent soiling the box floor, deter parasites and provide additional insulation for winter roosters. The individual accessories are neatly packaged and labelled, in individual bags. As you might expect, the instructions are also excellent and there's a national telephone number 01736756277 (not the more expensive 084 and 087 numbers) if you run into difficulties. The kit is so thoroughly planned and packaged that it's unlikely you will have any problems installing it.

I've built a number of nest boxes over the years and have sourced cameras and other components from a number of suppliers. From my experiences I don't think that you could purchase all the components as cheaply as you could buy a complete kit from HANDYKAM.COM.

Note - If you get your nest boxes in place in the autumn, you may well attract winter roosters who will then consider their winter quarters a suitable location to raise their brood the following spring.

Page 2 - The main components & testing the camera
Page 3 - Installing and adjusting the camera
Page 4 - Where to install the nest box

Visit the HANDYKAM.COM website by clicking on their logo -

Other relevant links within this web site
| Sparrow terrace - cutting plans for a bird box for up to 3 pairs of house sparrows |
| Attract wildlife by feeding the birds, constructing a pond and appropriate planting |

 

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