I’ve spent a week learning way, way too much about IP cameras and software and router ports and CPU loads, but knock on wood I think I’ve got this all set up now. The camera is streaming to YouTube as long as my laptop is powered up, and to AngelCam even if it’s not. (AngelCam costs a small fortune per month to embed in a website, so it wasn’t going to work as a standalone.) And the router is letting things go where they need to go and no longer capriciously opening and closing ports. Again, many thanks to Jason for the setup tips!
Of course, as soon as I started working on the live feeds and embedding in this site, I learned that the hole isn’t abandoned even in the off-Owl-season. Birds and a host of squirrels have been in and out of there and setting off the motion sensors. And then one of the little buggers — who had better think carefully about hanging around once Henrietta returns — pushed a big ol’ leaf right up against the lens of the camera. So the whole time I’ve been worried about setup, I couldn’t even see anything or test triggers.
So that’s how we ended up posting a request for help on a local social media site and locating a neighbor with a ladder (thanks, DeNard!) and how my long-suffering husband ended up perched on the top of said ladder with a coat hanger scraping as much debris out of the nest as he could get.
I am mildly worried that this will happen again, or that we’ll lose the feed because of an unfortunately-aimed owl pellet or something. We’ll see how it goes, and maybe we’ll have to redo or reconsider the whole setup next year. But for now, we can see! And that’s so awesome!
Now we just need ONE THING…