Groups of animals or birds

Isn't the English language amazing? We have terms for groups of things depending on what they are. They call these collective nouns. Here are a few for various animals:

• Badgers - A cete of badgers
• Bats - A colony of bats
• Bears - A sloth of bears
• Bees - A grist, hive, swarm, drift of bees
• Birds - A flock, flight, parcel of birds
• Bitterns - A sedge of bitterns
• Budgerigars - A chatter of budgerigars
• Butterflies - A swarm, rabble of butterflies
• Buzzards - A wake of buzzards
• Caterpillars - An army of caterpillers
• Cubs - A litter of cubs
• Dear - A herd of dear
• Dogs - A pack of dogs
• Doves - A flight of doves
• Eagles - A convocation
• Elk - A herd of elk
• Finches - A charm of finches
• Fish - A shoal, school of fish
• Flies - A cloud
• Geese - A gaggle, flock of geese
• Grasshoppers - A cloud of grasshoppers
• Hares - A husk of hares
• Hedgehogs - An array of hedgehogs
• Horses - A stud, string of horses
• Hounds - A pack of hounds
• Rabbits - A husk of jackrabbits
• Jellyfish - A brood of jellyfish
• Larks - A bevy of larks
• Moose - A herd of moose
• Mosquitoes - A herd of mosquitoes
  
• Nightingales - A watch of nightingales
• Partridges - A covey of partridges
• Pelicans - A pod of pelicans
• Ponies - A drove of ponies
• Rats - A colony, pack, swarm of rats
• Seagulls - A flock of seagulls
• Snakes - A den, bed of snakes
• Tortoises - A creep of tortoises
• Walruses - A herd of walruses
• Whale - A school, pod or whales
• Worms - A clew of worms
• Wrens - A herd of wrens
• Zebras - A herd of zebras

As you can see there is a load of them. All brought to you by handykam.com. The home of wildlife cameras.

Words to help search
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Bird camera - Radio controlled hummingbird with camera

Imagine flying a hummingbird with a built in camera? Well now you can. This new device created by AeroVironment. The 19 grams, 16cm flying device was designed to fly easily inside and outside a building with the need for wires. Simply amazing. Check out the video:

Wildlife cameras and technology for school national curriculum

Schools have changed since my day. (Showing my age now :) ) Bang goes the blackboard and books. Now, technology is revolutionising the classroom with interactive whiteboards and laptops. One aspect of modern learning is the growing need to interact with the outdoors. Today's curriculum encourages our kids to getting out and learning about wildlife around us. However, with technology, they can see, learn and enjoy about wildlife around us, indoors too.

We have many schools using our bird box cameras, wildlife cameras and more. The nice thing is that our systems are easy to use and fit straight into most school IT structures. Most schools like to opt for a bird box camera (Either wired or wireless) and connect them to their computers with a USB or network via a IP converter. The experience is enhanced with advanced motion capture and we streaming software, where they can glue a live feed into their website as well as back it up on a computer too. Some schools are using advanced wildlife inspection cameras like the Meerkam gadget to find wildlife everywhere and record it for later lessons too.

It is so good that schools and colleges are get using technology to learn and enjoy the natural world around us. Hopefully, helping educate and create a thirst for more budding Chris Packham's and Bill Oddies of the future. Great!

More information
National Curriculum information.
Bird box cameras from handykam
ICT network connection ideas

Thanks to
Thanks to all the schools have bought our systems and all the children we have help.
Thanks to South Wales Argus for good article and image on High tech pupils in Newport using our camera nest boxes.

Keyword to help search
Wildlife and national curriculum, wildlife learning, wildlife in classroom, ICT and wildlife, birds and curriculum, classroom technology, IP connection

How to make a bird box

Making a bird box or nest box can be great fun. We should know as we make many thousands every year sending them to all corners of the globe from our unit in Cornwall.

The biggest consideration when making a bird box is deciding what birds you would like to use the box. Most of our domestic songbirds are happy in a box around 15cm-20cm cubed made out of 15cm-19cm of good wood. Birds will certainly nest in most boxes made out of many materials, but a well built box will ensure a new family to use it for many years to come.

First start with a single plank around 150mm x 1170mm. Mark the base, sides, front and roof out off it like the diagram provided. See diagram above.

Fit the box together with nails and screws so they are secure. Also include a couple of holes in the base to allow for drainage and don't include a perch for predators. Include a hinged lid if you want to inspect the camera easily.

Don't forget your bird box camera
Add that little something extra by including a bird box camera. These can be easily fitted by drilling a 5mm hole into the side of the box and fitting one of our wired or wireless cameras to it. The camera are plug in and play, allowing you to monitor and enjoy your birds too. You can also fit windows to your box to allow light into the box, not enough to disturb the birds, but enough for the cameras to see in colour. Perfect....

Go for it, make a bird box today
Making bird boxes are great fun especially with all the family. They are often one of the best, small wooden projects to do as they don't cost a lot and take no time at all. However, you can always buy a complete camera bird box if you pushed for time or it is late in the nesting season. Perfect for you birds and you too.

More info
Please support the BTO - click here
Article on building bird box at BTO - click here
More info on building bird boxes - click here
Handykam bird boxes, nest boxes and camera bird boxes

Credits
Thank you for the BTO for all your good work and picture above.

Keywords to help search
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Choosing a particular bird for your camera bird box.

We are often asked how we can attract certain birds to our camera bird boxes. It really depends on what birds are in your garden, what birds are dominant and the type of bird box you have. A great way is place a multispecies camera bird box in your garden. A handykam.com bird box is perfect as it can be used for most types of our native birds. It has been specifically designed with bird comfort in mind and to all the recommended specifications by the RSPB and BTO.

The key points are to place the box a little bit away from a feeder or feeding station, but with a bit of cover from foliage.  The next key point is to choose whether to have a round entrance hole or open front. Most boxes have a 35mm entrance hole and some camera bird boxes have the ability to remove the middle panel to allow open fronted nesting birds like Wren, Pied Wagtail, Robin, Blackbird, Spotted flycatcher.

With an entrance hole, you have the choice of using a hole sizer or hole protector to help discriminate between certain types of birds. These are metal plates with hole, which can be easily pinned to the entrance hole of the box.  The plates have different sizes that can allow certain bird types to enter the boxes. Here is a guide: Blue tit, Marsh tit, Coal tit – 25mm (1in) Great tit, Tree sparrow, - 28mm (1 1/4in) Nuthatch, House sparrow, Nuthatch – 32mm (1 1/2in)

Choose a hole sizer to match birds you have in your garden and ones you would like to see nesting.

Once sited, leave you camera nest box and keep an eye on it on your TV. Don’t despair if it is not occupied quickly. Most birds take a while to get used to boxes in their territory.

Have fun and enjoy your camera bird box.

More info
Buy a camera bird box
More info about bird boxes from the RSPB – Click here
Build a camera bird box from the BTO – Click here
Keywords to help search
Bird boxes, bird box hole, nest box hole, nest box hole, hole sizers, correct bird box hole, nest box holes, choose hole size, which hole size.

 

Winter freeze drives birds to the UK.

Ever wondered why we have many exotic birds on our shores this winter. It turns out that we are awash with fieldfare, redwings, waxwings and more. This may be due to the severe winters in Northern Europe and Russia. Why not replenish your camera feeder or install a camera bird box and enjoy our new winter visitors.

Read more
Interesting guardian article - click here
Picture acknowledgement - © Flickr
Handykam.com - bird box camera
Keywords to help search
Migrating birds, winter birds, bird watching, bird migration, weather effecting birds.

Give a camera bird box on National Nest Box Week 2011

Birds need our help. During the past few years, many of our native birds have seen a decline in numbers. Sadly this is due to changing habitats and feeding patterns and conditions. One major factor has been our unseasonably strange weather patterns over the past few months. Having a nest box, will not only keep them warm, but will help them raise a brood too. Valentines day gift One major way to help reverse the declining numbers is to put up a nest box. As part of  a national campaign, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) holds National Nest Box Week. This is where they are encouraged to put up a bird box. The campaign starts on valentines day – February 14th 2011 and runs for a week.

Why not get involved.
Read more about bird box week and grab yourself a box. If you want something a little more, why not invest in a wonderful camera bird box. This way you can help your birds and enjoy them too.

Handykam – Supports National Nest Box week. Broods need our help. Adopt a brood today!
More information

Nest box week website – http://www.bto.org/nnbw/index.htm
BTO website – http://www.bto.org
Buy a camera bird box from Handykam.com


Keywords to help search
National bird box week, National bird box week 2011, NBBW, NBBW 2011, BTO Birdbox week, valentines bird box week.
Article based on national bird box week, NBBW, using camera bird boxes and camera nest boxes to help bird numbers this valentines day.

Bird box camera - Connect scart or phono?

We have many customers asking, should we use the scart connector or phono plugs on our nest box camera cable. Good question. This is purely a personal choice.

Scarts are strange shaped plugs with 21 pins. They have become the most common form of connecting av equipment (Like bird box camera cables) to TV's. Most AV equip still has a scart connector, but it will become obsolete when HDMI plugs get popular.

Phono or RCA connectors have been around since 1950's and stood the test of time. They are used for all type of AV equipment and still very popular. Normally the only colours you would use is yellow - video and white - audio.

Both connectors are very good and choice is purely on which one you prefer to use. The ports are often limited on a TV, so a good choice will allow you to connect more AV equipment.

More info
Buy a scart connector - click here
More info about scart connectors - click here
More info about phono connectors - click here

Camera traps find more animals in urban forests

Interestingly, a study into animals in urban areas found that animals seemed to concentrate in mainly urban environments. Could it be the weather, feeding patterns or something else?

When the curator of New York Museum and author with a technology student used camera traps and GPS to document a wide range of wildlife. Camera traps or trail cameras are a perfect way of monitoring animals with disturbing them. They work remotely, triggering a camera through motion sensitive sensor. The footage can then be studied at a later day.

The research shows that through technology there is a lot we can learn and understand about our wildlife and the environment.

Handykam.com is a leading supplier of trail cameras and remote cameras for watching wildlife.

More information
Thanks for the New York Times for the great article and pictures.
More about trail cameras.

Future of wildlife cameras and bird box cameras.

The future is bright, the future is QuantumFilm. This is the new technology that may revolutionise the convention ways of camera sensors. At the moment you get CCD cameras and CMOS cameras. QuantumFilm developed in Toronto.

The technology boasts 4 x the sensitivity with 100% light recorded. The biggest plus is that the cost will be a lot less than conventional light chips.

Can't wait for the release of these. Who knows, we may have a bird box camera with hyper reality, making you feel you are in there with them.
Read more
The article was based on this - click here
Thanks CNET/InVisage technologies for pic. 

About Handykam.com
Leading company in bird box cameras, wildlife cameras and inspection cameras.