Derek, Peter and Jeremy are learning about birds and insects in science this year. They began an experiment on Friday comparing two different varieties of bird seed, in an attempt to answer the question, “What type of bird seed to the birds in my backyard prefer?”

We followed the directions in the curriculum to a T. And the boys–birdwatching book in hand–observed with excitement from the couch.

Then Jake came home. And he took the birdwatching to a whole new level. First, he hacked into our camera.

Then he raided the miscellaneous wire box for a long wire with which to connect a motion detector. A motion detector that is conveniently housed inside a chinese food box.

When a bird lands on the bird seed, it sets off the motion detector and the camera snaps a picture of the winged creature. The picture is then imported into the computer.

Genius, no?

Now the boys can identify birds up close and not have to worry about them flying away.