i-catcher product review

Having relocated from a typically nondescript town centre building several years ago, we consider ourselves extremely lucky to have our office located in rural surroundings. Rather than the constant hubbub of traffic, we now enjoy a natural soundtrack of wind rustling through trees and of birdsong. Whilst I'd never have described myself as an avid birder, my attention is often distracted by the many visitors to the feeders and bird tables arranged outside the window. Most are relatively common such as Blackbird, Blue Tit, Great Tit, Robin, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Dunnock, Jay and Nuthatch (our most prolific visitor).

Occasionally less common visitors will make a brief appearance. Past sightings have included Green Woodpecker, Coal Tit, Goldfinch, Wren, House Sparrow, Collared Dove and Great Spotted Woodpecker. Unfortunately, these make a habit of doing so when either I'm on the telephone or out of the office and hence unable to enjoy their antics. Many times in the past I've been frustrated to hear from colleagues of a rare visitor while I've been on the daily run to the bank. However, this is no longer a problem.

As a company specialising in the provision of IT solutions and the development of innovative software programs, the development team here at iCode Systems had been working on a new generation of digital security surveillance product since late in 2000. Conceived as a PC-based, web-enabled software package, it was squarely aimed at the home and business security market. By summer 2001 the product was far enough advanced that an early "Beta" test version was installed at our office and a second system was watching over the car park of an existing client (where there had been a recent "incident").

A Chance Encounter

It was this second system that quite inadvertently alerted us to the potential of the product for an entirely different application. At 7.39am on September 28th 2001, a Robin flew directly in front of the camera at Consort House car park. The resulting image capture is shown here and suddenly we realised that the as yet un-named product could be used for bird watching. The idea for i-Catcher Wildlife was born, and within days cameras were positioned to watch the feeders and bird tables outside my window.

Early results were encouraging, and suddenly even those in the office who had previously shown no interest for the local fauna (programmers included!) were avid viewers of the latest visitors to be caught on camera.

Product development continued through autumn and into winter. Setting off for a New Year break at a cottage in Dinas Mawddwy, North Wales, we decided to pack a laptop and web camera. Seed and nuts scattered on the back step soon brought a variety of grateful, hungry visitors and i-Catcher meant we could capture close-ups that we could never have enjoyed without it.

So What Do You Need and How Does i-Catcher Work?

If you have a PC and an Internet connection, and presumably you do if you're reading this article, then all you need is a copy of i-Catcher Wildlife and a web cam (or a camcorder and TV capture card for the PC). The software has three basic modes of operation; Web Cam - where it constantly records images from the camera and uploads them to a suitable web space for continuous viewing via the Internet; Time-Lapse - where the software will record images at predetermined time intervals; Motion Detection - where the software will constantly review the images received from the camera and record all images in which motion is detected.

i-Catcher Wildlife's Web Cam mode is perfect for continuous viewing applications. Indeed, images from our own bird feeder cameras are uploaded to the Internet in this way (see our live feeds at www.icode.co.uk/icatcher/captures/samples.htm) and we are currently working with the RSPB to replace their existing web cameras with i-Catcher technology. Plans are also underway to install i-Catcher to watch over the nesting site of a pair of American Bald Eagles in time for the 2003 nesting season. (We will provide a link from the i-Catcher web site in due course).

Time-Lapse mode enables i-Catcher to capture images at user-defined intervals, from one every second to one every x hours, making it ideal for applications such as nest watching. For those who enjoy all forms of nature, time-lapse images of flowers opening and insects hatching are just two more possibilities.

No Need To Miss a Twitch!

But it is the Motion Detection mode that many birders will find of most interest. If you've ever wondered whether rare birds visit your garden while you're not watching, or been frustrated when they've flown before you could grab a camera, then i-Catcher Wildlife running in motion detection mode could be just what you've been craving. i-Catcher monitors every image it receives from the connected camera and compares it to the previous one. While there is no movement it records nothing, but as soon as the software detects a change in the image, such as a bird landing in shot, it records the image automatically. The Playback feature of i-Catcher allows hours of "watching time" to be reviewed in minutes so you can leave it unattended safe in the knowledge that you won't miss a twitch!

Selected images can be saved and i-Catcher can place a handy date stamp and other user-defined information on every image for easy cataloguing. The software also incorporates sophisticated alerting functions ranging from a simple audible alert when motion is detected, to the ability to automatically upload images to a web page, send image attachments to pre-defined email addresses, or to send an SMS text message to your mobile phone (via an external application).

The i-Catcher web site (www.icode.co.uk/icatcher) contains detailed guidance on the equipment needed for both single and multi-camera installations and a trial version of i-Catcher Wildlife can be downloaded free of charge so you can try before you buy. We are constantly updating our Wildlife Gallery of images and links to other sites uploading images using i-Catcher Wildlife, so if you do install the product and capture some interesting images, please do let us know.

As for our own installation, the cameras continue to run even when the office is unmanned. Each morning we spend a few minutes reviewing the images of the previous evening or weekend, hoping for a new species to add to our growing list. Having only released the software in February 2002, it's relatively early days, but the possibilities are endless. We feel confident that it's only a matter of time before rare sightings are credited to i-Catcher Wildlife software and broadcast live via the Internet for bird watchers the world over to enjoy.

In the meantime, I wish you all good birding!

Julie Kinnaird