wildlife cameras

[Dexter's Shed]

Didn't know they were on the pest species - why? We have quite a few pairs around our local woods and riverside and they are stunning to see.

Boxer's correct, from the corvid family, they supposedly kill fledgling songbirds, hence they got put on the list, yet starlings that we see in the millions and that sh*t everywhere, get taken off the list and given protected status, good old UK law at it's best

[jennysmate]

starlings that we see in the millions and that sh*t everywhere, get taken off the list and given protected status, good old UK law at it's best

Theres not many starlings in my neck of the woods now.

[SimonFisher]

... starlings that we see in the millions and that sh*t everywhere, get taken off the list and given protected status, good old UK law at it's best

I believe their numbers declined a lot in the 1980s. I remember seeing maybe a hundred at a time on my parents' lawn and those of the neighbours after we moved house in north east England in 1975. Now you'll be lucky to see more than ten of them visiting the garden.

[oldclaypaws]

While there will be winners and losers, there's no doubt climate change is having dramatic effects on wildlife. Starlings have declined by around 80% over the last 25 years across all of Northern Europe. Pigeon numbers have exploded, we get huge flocks roosting in our trees. There are big changes in the sea too, with shoals of anchovies coming into the North Sea and cod going to cooler water. Clearly because of the North Sea restricting migration, changes in mammals will be slower, but badger numbers have increased due to warming boosting the worm population. Its all a bit weird.

[smojo]

No, Smojo, there's little that could be turned off.

One last thought. Is the display screen something that can be turned off or on? I know with ordinary digi cameras that the ting that drains the batteries most is the display so I have mine set to switch off after about 10secs of non use. I'm guessing that a trail camera won't have the screen on in normal mode though as that would attract unwanted attention. It was just a thought though.

[boxerman]

Screen is only active in test mode and the only thing you could really turn off is the side PIRs. Has gone through my mind to wonder if the infra red light had stuck on as I'd guess that would drain the battery pretty quickly. I'll never know now tho 'cos the seller agreed for me to return it and I have a replacement en-route - they were out of stock of the 5210A tho so I've paid another £15 to upgrade to a 6210MC so..... I'm currently waiting for two 6210MC's to arrive - this replacement and the one from Pak-a-Tak..... Not what I had in mind but it'll allow some possibilities...

Despite being listed as a UK seller with UK address they are clearly based in China but I have to say that, despite the frustrations, they seem to have been fair to deal with so far IF the replacement is OK.......

[smojo]

I'm currently waiting for two 6210MC's to arrive

Just like buses eh?

[Dexter's Shed]

although I've been following this post, because I bought my cameras from maplins, I've not really looked into it, until today when I had another e mail to my pest control company get flagged in my inbox, two words caught my attention CHINA & ACORN
seems they have been sending me all the guff to buy these by the pallet load, whilst looking through their mail, I found a "problem page" and wondered if mere mortals that buy single items can see this too, if not, just follow the link below

http://www.ismartoutdoors.com/blog/isma ... odels.html

[boxerman]

Yeah, thanks Dexter. I have seen a similar page on Ron's site and considered pretty much everything - I do hate giving up on something without knowing the reasons.....

My ebay replacement (updated to a 6210MC for an extra £15) arrived yesterday - strangely enough the parcel arrived from Germany and the difference is...... staggering... First impressions are that both videos and stills are good (OK they should be better anyway 'cos it's supposed to be HD tho I'd suspect that's only emulated). 12mp stills are pretty good and 1080 video is far better than I was seeing on the 5210 + it has a wider field of view - I wouldn't say it was superb as it doesn't hold a candle to my GoPro but it's perfectly acceptable for what this camera is and it's cost. I did have it out in the garden overnight but caught nothing but myself but quality was certainly better tho it was difficult to say how good as the lens was covered in condensation...... I've just cleaned the lens and infra red with a water repellent to see if that helps.

Hopefully in a day or two I'll get chance to give it a workout at the badger sett.

If I can ignore the frustrations, the cost of wasted batteries etc then the buy hasn't worked out too badly - I originally paid £76 + free shipping for the 5210, I then paid around £8 for return shipping - under their e-bay return policy they should cover that but didn't offer, and an additional £15 to turn it into a 6210 as the other was out of stock so, in total I paid £99 for, what so far appears to be, a good 6210.

Would I buy from them again? I'm not honestly sure after the time I spent testing but I wouldn't turn my nose up at the right deal - they've dealt fairly with me and I do appear to have a satisfactory conclusion. If I was happy to spend the extra then I'd probably use Pak-a-Tak but.... What I would say is that I would definitely rather pay the extra for the 6210MC rather than the 5210 mainly 'cos of the HD and the fact that the 5210 onl;y runs video at 720 where the 6210 will run 1080.

[Terry]

Thanks for the update. Glad you have something workable for a reasonable price.
Been a bit of a learning curve for you and very useful to the rest of us to avoid having the same issues, so most grateful for you sharing.
Just shows the usefulness of forums and the internet (as long as you have password protected your CCTV/web/baby cameras )