A video production business in Chester has set up a side business installing motion-triggered cameras at wildlife sites, off the back of thousands tuning in to view footage from its nest box camera at the top of Chester’s tallest building.
Stoat Media installed a built-in camera inside the concrete nesting box 18 months ago, when it was initially craned into place at the top of Chester’s Shot Tower. Since then, the solar-powered camera has captured all the action from two successful peregrine falcon breeding seasons, with daily video snippets uploaded to Stoat Media’s Facebook page.
The clips have proved incredibly popular, particularly during lockdown, with up to 800 people per day tuning in to see how the current brood of peregrine falcon chicks are getting on.
And off the back of all the buzz around the nest camera footage, Stoat Media has had a number of clients get in touch over the past couple of months asking for similar cameras to be installed at various wildlife locations across the UK.
“When the lockdown began, we obviously had to stop a lot of the video production work we had planned for clients,” said Simon Davies, MD of Stoat Media.
“However, as word spread about the longevity of the camera at Shot Tower and the quality of the footage, we’ve had several jobs come in to install similar cameras at various sites around the UK.
“In particular, surveyors are using them to monitor wildlife movements at potential construction sites, particularly bat roosts.
“I’m a big wildlife fan, so having the opportunity to engage in two of my passions at the same time is really exciting and I’m hopeful that it will continue to grow as a side business for us over the coming months.”
Stoat Media, and its sister company in digital marketing and web design, Roodee Web Design, were founded by Simon Davies, whose background is in TV and radio.
The company, which is based at Obsidian Business Centre in Chester, employs a team of three. As a full service video production company, it has undertaken corporate and specialist filming projects for an array of well-known brands and individuals such as Wilkinson, Vileda, Odeon, Superdrug and B&Q.
