My Little Bird Camera
If you visited my Wordless Wednesday blog last week, you saw some of the birds that visit my window bird feeder. Well today I’m going to show you my little bird camera and how I ended up with the ladder bookcase.
My steady readers know I like coming up with what you might call unconventional ideas and that’s just what I did for my camera so I could capture some pictures.
First off, the camera is actually one I use for Snowball so I can check on him and talk with him when I’m out. When my daughter visited a few weeks ago we were watching the birds on the feeder and she suggested to bring Snowball’s camera out. Perfect plan but I needed to come up with some sort of stand that was 55″ high! How would I do that??
First I made a trip to the garage and looked through a stack of cardboard boxes I had saved since I’m packing so much up and taking to Habitat for Humanity. I had one that was pretty near perfect. I set the foot square box on top of our Dodger’s end table but I still needed a bit more height. Back to the garage but I couldn’t find a box that was about 6″ high so I went to my pantry and found my chip box was just right! Sounds like the Three Bears story, doesn’t it? But my tower worked! LOL
After building my redneck stand, I then mentioned I could bring a ladder inside and use that! But my daughter had another idea, she said, “You know they make ladder bookshelves, right?” Oh yes, I forgot all about them but I didn’t want one that was too large and bulky looking. So on to Amazon I went and found one that was the right size in width and depth plus it was the exact height I needed! It came in white, black or rustic brown. Chris and I both decided the rustic brown was perfect to go in the family room, the wood shelves were close the the color of the floor. It even has a removable drawer on the bottom shelf. Best part, I had enough gift cards that I earned from Swagbucks to get it free! It was perfect to set the camera on the top shelf and we could now birdwatch through my phone. I just turn the app on and when a bird appears I can take videos or still shots.
Next it was time for Lia to add some decorations to the shelves. She decided the three light up glitter Angels along with a long stem glass rose from Alex would be perfect.
The first picture I snapped with my phone camera and the other is from the bird camera. I love to watch the birds stop by and pick in the window.
I did some rearranging and moved the keyboard which was by the window into Lia’s Princess room. Of course Snowball is in his favorite night time spot. My next order of business is to get a few outdoor bird cameras and put one on the shed so I can get pictures of the birds from another angle. They are motion cameras and take the pictures automatically. I’m happy with my set up to watch the birds and if I need the camera for Snowball it’s easy enough to move. From redneck stand to ladder bookshelf and even reorganizing the family room all in a day!
Loved the ingenuity! I love watching birds! Great post and lovely pictures…
Thanks Laura! I always start by finding something that will work but when my daughter mentioned the ladder shelf I know I had to bit the bullet and order it! LOL Watching the birds is so relaxing and peaceful to me.
The setup looks great! Now that your bird cameras are up, are you streaming those to YouTube? My cat and I both love watching birds on YouTube. But the hobbled-together stand worked, albeit short term. But if it works, it works!
Thank you and oh yes, I save so many videos on YouTube Jodi! Someday I may even do a Vlog on YouTube. Yes I was happy with my hobbled stand, for me if something works, it’s fine. But the stand is prefect for both the camera and it “fits” in the family room with the black frame and wood tone shelfs matching my other things in the room.
Great comment about setting up a bird camera in your home. This is a must have new bird watchers!
I love to watch and listen to “my: birds Kristine. But since I converted Snowball’s camera into my bird camera it’s even more fun to watch them while I’m taking a video of them.
What a neat story! And I love your new bookcase. It’s lovely with the angels added. And how cool that you can bird watch now, wherever you are.
Yes that’s the super cool thing Jeanine, I can be anywhere and watch my birds. They camera even has motion so when the birds are eating, I get a video of them!
Martha, your room is lovely, and your bird camera setup is perfect! In fact, you have almost solved my longtime issue: how do I photograph my backyard birds, without walking toward them with a camera? Which they notice and don’t like! So what exact app are you using? I really want to set up something myself. Thanks so much for describing your process!
This little camera is an AiDot camera. It’s an inside one but they may make outdoor ones also. You just download the AiDot app, connect the camera to the app and that’s it. But my daughter has outdoor Blink cameras in her yard. I’m going to check them out tomorrow on Amazon Prime days and see the prices. They are tiny little cameras but take awesome still and video shots.
Oh, wow, that’s such a good idea!!!! I love how you created your birdwatching/photography ladder.
I was fine with my “redneck” ladder Alice but once Chris showed me this bookshelf ladder I know I had to get that. It’s small and doesn’t take up much space but works perfect.
i have been meaning to get a little camera for watching the birds too and more bird feeders for my yard.. your posts are one reason why!
It’s so fun and relaxing to watch the birds on the window feeder Vidya. This is an Aidot camera but my duaghter has Blink ones that are about the same size and they are waterproof for outdoor use. I’m going to get a few of those for other areas of our yard.