As 2020 comes to an end, so does Adobe Flash Player. After adding two more Reolink cameras this year, it was a nervous wait for Reolink to release a firmware update so we could continue to view gardenwatch footage captured when my PC wasn’t on. There was a sigh of relief when it appeared during late October. Being conscious there could be teething problems with the firmware, we held off installing updates until two weeks ago. We successfully updated two of the cameras and feel comfortable with updating the other two now.

Although I prefer watching the live screen view of my cameras via Blue Iris software, seen above, the overnight footage would have been a great loss especially when hedgehogs are about, if a fix for the loss of Adobe Flash wasn’t made available for my cameras. I’ll take a guess I’m not alone on this problem with Reolink cameras, although I’m not sure how many will be getting used for watching garden wildlife! If you are reading this as you need a fix for your Reolink camera you may find the video below helpful.

Posting a blog on the last day of 2020 should include of some recent images reflecting where it started, where it went, who’s visiting and what’s new. It needs these images to recognise that, through covid restrictions, 2020 has been a garden watching year like no other!

So many people have shared stories on social media of how they are new to enjoying and appreciating the wildlife visitors to their gardens and areas close to them. Like me, they had no idea what could visit if you put out a few feeders and made areas accessible to wildlife. My hope is that in 2021 this interest continues.

Camera firmware updates aren’t required for normal gardenwatching like siting at a window, just time and patience. Although I love having the added tech of live cameras and captures overnight when I am sleeping, sitting quietly with my breakfast just looking out the window, wondering who I’ll see during an hour is still hard to beat. If you enjoy that too, you might be interested in the BIG GARDEN BIRDWATCH survey with the RSPB in January.

Our current weather, snow and cold temps, make great conditions to sit by a window. Feeders are more likely to be busy with a wide variety of birds as they travel around gardens in mixed groups. They can be quite mesmerising to watch rushing around fuelling up on high energy foods during the day so they survive a cold night. I’m thinking there could be a garden party here today, Hogmanay! In anticipation of this, the feeders have been cleaned and refreshed. Breakfast may be quick (Hogmanay tidy up ahead) but I look forward to sitting by the window later.

Thanks for stopping by today, wishing you good health and happiness in 2021! Best wishes, Shirley.

This post was published by Shirley for shirls gardenwatch on December 31st 2020.