Equipment and installation
Components
The camera system, named BathawkCam, consists of a Raspberry Pi 4 computer, a high-resolution CCTV camera and LTE cellular modem. These were all mounted inside a weatherproof box, except for the CCTV camera which was placed on a branch opposite the Bat Hawk nest. The system is active 24/7.
Adjustments to the Raspberry Pi’s program code, such as movement sensitivity and a range of image settings, can be done remotely whenever required via the LTE modem. The camera’s zoom level and focus can also be remotely adjusted.
Capturing images
The Raspberry Pi computer has been coded to capture images whenever movement at the nest is detected. All images are automatically uploaded to an Internet cloud service. From there the images are downloaded to computers on a regular basis.
The CCTV camera has a particularly effective low-light and infra-red capability.
BathawkCam was installed on 20 Augustus 2020.
Top banner photo: © Stewart Matheson