Mourning Dove Nest Time Lapse

Walking out on my back porch about a month ago gave me quite a startle, as a bird jumped from her nest.  I didn't want to disturb them too much but decided to set up a camera to capture images every 2 minutes and then string them together after a week or so into a time lapse.  The chicks grew quickly, and mama dove was protective of her chicks.

I bought an off-brand power adapter for my Canon G11 and upgraded to one of the newest Eye-Fi wireless SD cards.  I configured the CHDK script to take an image every 2 minutes and then wirelessly send the image to my PC inside the house.  This way, I could keep the camera rolling until the memory card filled up.  Unfortunately, endless mode does not work with CHDK, since the lock tab prevents the software from erasing anything.  Some Canon cameras allow you to load CHDK from the firmware update screen, but this is not available on the G11.  Every couple of days, when mama was away hunting for food, I went out and got the images off the memory card and then started the script back up.  Some of the still images are great, and I think that the time lapse turned out nicely.

Click on image below to watch timelapse video

The entire process from laying eggs to abandoning the next was about 3 weeks.

Although the mama and papa dove were together in a few pics, they rarely stayed together long enough to get a proper family portrait.  This image is on one of their last days in the nest.  

Hopefully, they come back next year!