FAQ: From the Garden Fence

Install nest-box cameras inside the box in autumn or winter, before birds prospect for sites. Never add, adjust or move a camera near an active nest. If you want to watch a natural nest, do so from indoors with binoculars, at a distance that causes no reaction.

Standard 850 nm infrared emits a faint red glow that some mammals and birds notice. No-glow 940 nm units are much less visible and generally a gentler choice, at the cost of slightly shorter night range.

About once a week. Use large memory cards and long-life batteries so visits, scent and noise are kept to a minimum. Approach along the same route each time.

Record what you did see and mark it "unidentified". Honest uncertain records are useful and are often resolved later. See Field Notes.

Apps such as Merlin Bird ID are helpful leads, but treat suggestions as hypotheses and note them as app-assisted in your records. Background noise and partial songs can mislead them.

Please don't, especially in the breeding season. Playback can stress territorial birds and draw them away from nests. Listen instead, and compare later with recordings on xeno-canto.

We advise against placing food purely to get a shot. If you already feed birds, keep feeders clean and in their usual positions rather than moving them towards a camera.

No. Keep nest locations private, particularly for protected or rare species, and blur location details in any shared images.

Outside the main nesting season, which in the UK runs roughly from March to August. Always check carefully for active nests first. See Garden Habitat.