The initiative is the work of leading conservation charity Devon Wildlife Trust. The camera has been installed at one of the charity’s south Devon nature reserves [1]. It provides free live pictures to anyone with access to the internet.

The specially designed camera provides a fascinating close-up view of the comings and goings of a range of birds as they visit to take advantage of the sunflower hearts and fat balls that the Trust provides.

Devon Wildlife Trust’s Steve Hussey helped coordinate the installation of the new camera which was provided by Dorset-based company Wildlife Windows. Steve said:

“Birdfeeder cam is a clever piece of kit. It allows us to beam live pictures around the world as birds visit, feed and sometimes squabble for position at two birdfeeders. In its first weeks the camera has picked up great-spotted woodpeckers, goldfinches, great tits, coal tits, dunnocks and robins. The camera even has night-vision, so that when the birds disappear, we are still able to see nocturnal appearances from foxes, badgers and fallow deer.

However, the real star of the show so far has been the arrival of cirl buntings. The camera has picked up their visits to the birdtable on a couple of occasions over the past weeks. These are rare birds. Over the past decade or so a lot of conservation effort by the RSPB and others has been dedicated to helping them spread. To see them on camera is very encouraging.”

Birdtable cam is part of Devon Wildlife Trust’s wider work to bring nature into everyone’s life. The charity’s Communications Manager, Jan Coman explained the thinking:

“We believe everybody should have easy access to nature. But not everyone has access to a garden, let alone the resources to set up and maintain a birdtable. We wanted to give people the pleasure of watching birds, whatever their circumstances. Hopefully, our birdfeeder cam will bring a little bit of nature into more people’s lives.

The success of the BBC’s Wild Isles series has shown what wonderful wildlife we have on our doorsteps and the passion that people have for it. I tune in to our birdfeeder camera most days just to see what’s going on and to get a daily dose of nature. It’s surprisingly addictive!”

You can tune in too by searching for ‘Devon birdtable cam’ on Devon Wildlife Trust’s YouTube channel or visit our webpage.