Butterflycam

Post by **Padfield** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:51 am

I'm hoping to set up a live butterflycam next summer, pointing a webcam at some suitable flowers with high pulling power - preferably some nice herb like oregano that I can eat too.

For now, with no butterflies around, I'm just investigating whether this might be possible on my current broadband account (which has a pretty low upload speed).

My camera is pointing at my garden and should send a picture to your browser every 2 seconds if you click here:

http://www.guypadfield.com/livecam.html

The picture should change smoothly (so as there is nothing happening in my garden you have to look at the time stamp to see if it is working).

After two minutes it should redirect to another page to prevent people leaving their browser open all day and accidentally sabotaging my butterflycam with requests for data, but it can be reloaded.

I would greatly appreciate any responses, such as, 'Works fine for me' or 'I only get a picture every 10 seconds' or 'I have Netscape and I can't see anything' &c. I've already asked a few friends to do this and their feedback has been invaluable. I've no idea what would happen if several people at once tried to use it.

Thanks in advance,

Guy

Dave McCormick · Post by **Dave McCormick** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:15 pm

I waited for 5 mins or so, but nothing happened. I am using Internet Explorer 7 on Vista. I saw no picture, it began to load but I did not see anything

Post by **Padfield** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 1:50 pm

Thanks, Dave.

As luck would have it, all my fuses blew this afternoon while I was out, so the server went down!!

I've just replaced the fuses and things should work now. Would you mind checking again, as no one with Vista has tried this for me.

Guy

Or maybe it was your Vista that blew the fuses in my house. They must have gone at about the time you logged on...

Dave McCormick · Post by **Dave McCormick** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:03 pm

OK, it works now, no problems, think this is a good idea. wanted to try that myself once, maybe I will now next year.

Post by **Padfield** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:10 pm

Good!!

Very annoying - within one hour of posting the link and asking people to try it I get system failure!! I think the wise Professor Sod had something to say on the matter.

Thanks for testing it. I might put some birdfood on the windowsill and make it into a bird cam during the winter, but I have to be careful how I do it because a cat lives in the bunker under the house and his door is right beneath the window!!

Belkin makes a cable-free USB hub that might be very useful - I wouldn't have to have the camera in the same room as the computer.

Guy

Denise · Post by **Denise** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 2:41 pm

Hi Guy,

How cool!

And I've got the smiley's to work. Wonders will never cease!
It's a brilliant idea.

Denise

Post by **Padfield** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 3:01 pm

Thanks, Denise.

Look out for large tortoiseshells on my windowsill in 5 months time!

Guy

eccles · Post by **eccles** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:36 pm

:envy....

Matsukaze · Post by **Matsukaze** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 1:55 pm

Works for me, though refresh is a little irregular, every 1 to 8 seconds.

Post by **Padfield** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 2:04 pm

Thanks Matsukaze. That's just the sort of thing I need to know.

When the camera's fixed on a butterfly plant I might reduce the frequency of refresh anyway and increase the picture quality. Nothing flying at the moment though, so I'll just have to be patient for a few months.

Do check the gardencam if you want to know what the snow's like during the ski season...

Guy

Gruditch · Post by **Gruditch** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:02 pm

Yeah, and a bit of a tidy up in the garden wouldn't go a miss Guy.

Gruditch

Post by **Padfield** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 9:05 pm

It's good enough for 64 species of butterfly, so it's good enough for me!!

But thanks for caring.

Guy

Charles Nicol · Post by **Charles Nicol** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:31 pm

it is working fine...maybe you could come & wave to us

charles

Post by **Padfield** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 8:54 pm

Charles Nicol wrote:...maybe you could come & wave to us

I did, but no one was looking

.

I've bought some winter bird seed and made a non-spill box for the windowsill (non-spill so seed doesn't drop to the ground and lure birds into the claws of my cat), so as from tomorrow there might be some action on camera. But it will almost certainly take several days for the birds to know there is a regular supply of food there, and they'll probably be the kind of birds you can see easily in the UK anyway.

I'll have to stop seeding the birds before I put a butterfly window-box out too. So many complications.

Guy

Denise · Post by **Denise** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 9:58 pm

Hi Guy,

I've been watching! I saw the sun come through the tree's earlier and what appeared to be a brown woodpecker (Nutcracker by any chance?)
Can't wait for the spring to see your butterflies.

Denise.

Post by **Padfield** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:30 am

Denise - there was a green woodpecker hanging around the garden yesterday, so it might have been that, but nutcrackers are common too.

Sadly, all you're likely to see today is a tray of seed, but things should come.

These are pictures I took with motion detection from the same window in 2001:

I've also set up motion detection today, so I should be able to check if anything has been visiting. I'll do the same when it's a butterfly cam, but have the images sent automatically to a web directory where they can be publicly viewed.

If someone gets a life tick on a live-cam, does it count??

Guy

Martin · Post by **Martin** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:50 am

I feel cheated...Butterflycam but no butterflies

Sort it out Guy

Martin.

Post by **Padfield** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 7:27 am

You're still probably better off slapping a coat of paint on a wall and watching it dry, but I thought you might be interested that my, ahem, butterflycam, is witnessing some action now. Here are a nuthatch and a great tit caught by the motion detector yesterday afternoon. V6GTO - I promise you some lep excitement next spring. Honestly! People who drive fast cars are so impatient!!

Guy

Oh - and while I was out walking my dog the nuthatch was already having a nosh this morning:

Denise · Post by **Denise** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 8:09 am

Nuthatch and Great and Blue Tit tit morning at 9 04!

Post by **Padfield** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 11:49 am

Thanks Denise!

I've caught your blue tit on film (motion sensor), as well as great tits and coal tits.

I would call it Guy's Titcam but that wouldn't do justice to the jay and nuthatch who are still regulars and it might just get me the wrong kind of visitor anyway

.

Guy