00:00In the event that took me quite a bit longer than anticipated to set up, I decided against
00:07the shot that I mentioned from the bog, the little swamp there, purely because it was
00:17just such an ugly picture. And at the end of the day if I want just a record of an
00:24animal
00:24I can use the trail cams and they can do their job and I can get plenty of record of
00:31whatever
00:31animals are passing through anywhere. The idea of the DSLR is to actually get some beautiful
00:37images, so there is a risk involved with that, both in terms of nothing coming through, the
00:45set up, and also in terms of the equipment getting damaged or stolen or what have you.
00:51So, I thought I'd take another gamble and set up along the path by the swamp here, by the
01:01pond and the reed bed. There's a trail which runs along it underneath this fallen log here,
01:09and I had noticed that on one of the trail cams, the one where the jackal comes sniffing
01:18at the camera, this is the path he came from, and I'm pointing in the same direction as he
01:26was coming, so the hope is that it's a regular route, he'll use it again, she will use it
01:34again, and I might capture a shot. Like I said, my only concern is the length of time between
01:40the trigger and waking up the flashes to set off the camera. So, very briefly, underneath
01:51the pile here of leaves and branches, I've set up the camera facing the gap underneath
02:00the fallen tree, so that's all the frame. There's a little bit of sky there as well. I have the
02:10flash, one of the flashes is on the tripod leg of the camera facing the fallen log, and
02:17the other one is up here to provide a light pointing down, a top light. I have one of the
02:25trail cams set up here pointing this way down the path, and the other one is on the other
02:30side of the tree pointing that way down the path. I've put them high up, angled downwards,
02:38in the hope that when the red light comes on, when they sense movement, the animals won't
02:45be put off by it, and they'll still carry on through. That's the hope, but anyway. The trigger
02:51I have set on the fallen tree here, and it's set, I'm assuming the animal will come from
02:57that direction, coming this way, so it's set to trigger just before it comes underneath
03:03the log, assuming that'll slow it down, and give enough time to wake the flashes up, wake
03:10the camera up, and fire as it comes through underneath the fallen tree here. That's the theory
03:16of it. Whether it'll work or not is another matter, and again, we shall see in a few days'
03:24time. I'm going to leave it as undisturbed as I can this time, for as many days as I can
03:30hold out my anxiety to come and see if I've managed to capture anything, and let it run its
03:40course, and hopefully we'll have a bit more success than I've had so far. So, yeah. Catch
03:49up with you in a few days' time. See you then.
03:52Okay, so hello and welcome my friends to this ongoing saga with my camera trap. And, okay,
04:02where to begin. After the clip that you just saw, where I set up the camera trap near the
04:09pond with the fallen tree. I went back three days later because a massive storm came through
04:15with high winds which blew down Stork's nest, blew down Cormorant's nest in the forest beyond
04:21here. It was a really big storm, and sure enough the camera had nothing pretty much other than
04:31false triggers on it, both trail cam and DSLR. Other than two shots on the trail cam, two clips,
04:41of an otter that was playing around, had come out of the pond and was playing around behind
04:46the DSLR. So I didn't capture it at all on the DSLR. So that being the case made me think,
04:54okay, just turn the camera around. So I did. I turned the camera around facing the opposite
04:58way, covering both where the otter had come out of the pond and the tracks for the jackals.
05:06Let it go for another six days after switching out batteries and cards and what have you.
05:13Came back again after another storm and yet again nothing but false triggers. And only on
05:20the trail cam, I think I got one, I think it was that occasion, I got one clip of a
05:25marsh harrier
05:25that landed in the reeds and I think it jumped on a frog afterwards. It's really hard to tell
05:32what it was in the water and then flew off literally just a few seconds worth of poor footage
05:41off the trail cam. So once again, changed out batteries, changed out cards, let it go for
05:48another six days. And again, nothing but false triggers. And on this occasion I got a shot
05:57of beach martin, stone martin. Not a great shot on the DSLR. It's quite far away, head is bent
06:06down so you can't really see any facial details properly. So not a great shot. And that was it.
06:12So I decided then and there that it was proving to be too much of a fruitless location. So I
06:19broke it all down, took it home, cleaned it out. Because the camera case as well was full
06:27of ants and a spider had made an egg sack in there. Something else had been in and was chewing
06:34on the foam padding in the case. So it made sense just to break it down and find somewhere
06:41else. And so I came to this woods, which I've never been to before. There's no human trails
06:48at all through here, just animal tracks thankfully, but it also means that it's a lot harder to follow
06:53them because they go through bushes, under logs etc. and it's quite dense. And I was only intending
07:02to set the trail cams up to see what I might get on the trail cams first before committing
07:06the DSLR. But I found this fantastic location here just behind me, where this fallen tree is,
07:17and a definitive path that runs underneath the fallen tree. So I thought, OK, this is ideal.
07:25The picture looks great, the composition. So I set the DSLR up there, overlooking that,
07:32with flashes above and to the side. Trail cam on this side, and I set the trail cams in
07:38two other locations overlooking two other tracks as well, see what I might get. And I just had a look
07:44on this one, and again, quite a few false triggers it seems. I think it's climactic conditions,
07:50atmospheric conditions rather, that are triggering it. I got a shot of what I believe is a jackal
07:58leaping over the fallen tree, but it's just a blur because it was a long exposure in low light.
08:05But I think that's a jackal. I got a fox. Again, not a clear shot. It was wary, I think.
08:14It could
08:14probably sense my presence with the camera trap here. So it was quite wary, so I got a sideline shot
08:22of him just sort of peering in, investigating. And what else? I got a badger. Not a great shot.
08:29Again, just a side on view. But it has a lot of potential, I think, this. And I think the
08:34trail cam
08:34recorded a Martin as well. So anyway, I've switched everything out, reset it. I really have to
08:44try and sort out the long delay between the sensor triggering and waking the flashes. I don't know
08:53quite what to do about that, but I'm going to have to find some solution, because it's just
08:58the delay is killing me in terms of it being too early or too late to actually capture the image.
09:05So I have to sort that out. And that's about it. So I'll be back in a few days again
09:10to check on it.
09:12I'm going to go check on the trail cams as well. So I'll show you that footage now if there's
09:16anything on it. And if not, then I shall see you and catch up with you again in a few
09:24days,
09:25when hopefully there'll be something more on the cam trap. So I shall see you then.
09:57go.
09:59.
09:59.
09:59.
09:59.
10:27So, let's go.
10:57So, let's go.
11:27So, let's go.
11:29Let's go.
12:02Let's go.
12:30Let's go.
13:26Let's go.
13:37Let's go.
13:44Let's go.
13:52Let's go.
14:03Let's go.
14:30Let's go.
14:43Let's go.
14:49Let's go.
14:50Let's go.
14:57Let's go.
14:59Let's go.
15:00See you again very soon.
15:01Bye for now.
15:02Let's go.
15:03Let's go.
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