Discovered that a single trail camera wasn't sufficient for my needs, leading me to acquire numerous trail cameras instead.
In the heart of an English town, a resident has turned their small garden into a wildlife haven, thanks to a pair of affordable trail cameras. Chris George, a seasoned writer for Digital Camera World, found himself captivated by the nocturnal visitors in his own backyard, a discovery that began when he started working on the publication in 2017.
Having planned to buy a digital trail camera, Chris was inspired by the annual miniseries, Springwatch, which presents nightly programs showcasing wildlife. This year, the team was based at a country estate on the edge of the Peak District National Park. Intrigued by the possibility of uncovering similar secrets in his own garden, Chris decided to take action.
He purchased a pair of Wolfang WT02 trail cameras during the Amazon Prime Day sale, each costing under £40. These cameras, equipped with a 48MP sensor and a built-in color screen for setup, have proven to be a valuable investment. Within less than a week of installation, Chris recorded footage of foxes and badgers, revealing previously unseen wildlife in his garden. Over the course of a couple of months, he recorded over 12,000 clips.
The success of Chris's project underscores the best practices for using multiple trail cameras to document nocturnal wildlife. Strategic placement of cameras in multiple locations around key wildlife hotspots or known animal paths maximizes coverage and the chance of capturing varied behaviors without overlapping fields of view significantly. Infrared or no-glow night vision cameras are essential to avoid disturbing nocturnal animals sensitive to light.
Synchronizing camera timing ensures continuity and allows reconstructing animal movement patterns at night across different vantage points. Minimizing human scent and disturbance during setup and retrieval helps maintain natural animal behavior, critical for authentic nocturnal footage. Employing motion-triggered cameras with video and still images helps capture detailed behaviors while conserving battery and storage.
While direct behind-the-scenes details for Springwatch’s trail camera usage weren't detailed in recent sources, these principles align with standard wildlife filming practices featured across similar wildlife documentation projects. Supplementary wildlife camera setups, like those seen in Estonian wildlife monitoring, also emphasize continuous, non-intrusive night observation by combining day and night cams to create extensive footage of nocturnal activity.
Chris, who has authored several books, including The Book of Digital Photography, has been writing about photography, mobile phones, video making, and technology for over 30 years. His work has been published in numerous publications and websites, including The Sunday Times Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, What Cellphone, T3, and Techradar.
As the latest series of Springwatch unfolded on BBC, Chris found himself drawn to the captivating wildlife footage, which inspired him to embark on his own nocturnal wildlife documentation journey. The results have been nothing short of fascinating, offering a glimpse into the hidden lives of the foxes, badgers, and hedgehogs that visit his garden after dark.
- Chris George, inspired by the wildlife footage in Springwatch, purchased a pair of Wolfang WT02 trail cameras for his garden.
- These cameras, featuring a 48MP sensor and a built-in color screen, have captured footage of foxes, badgers, and hedgehogs in Chris's garden.
- To maximize coverage, Chris strategically placed the cameras in multiple locations around his garden's wildlife hotspots.
- Infrared or no-glow night vision cameras were used to avoid disturbing nocturnal animals sensitive to light.
- Chris, an experienced writer on technology, photography, and mobile phones, has published his work in several prestigious outlets.
- The principles Chris employed in his nocturnal wildlife documentation align with standard wildlife filming practices and those seen in other wildlife documentation projects.
