Camera VC0706 for animal detection --- power consumption

[Waso]

Hi,
I'm an ecologist in search for a cheap way to monitor nest boxes in isolated environments. I simply need a photo of any animal that enters the nest box for identification. Ideally the system would be independent for weeks.

So far, I have built the "An “Internet of Things” Camera" (http://www.ladyada.net/make/IoTcamera/) that uses the VC0706 weather proof camera with an arduino Uno and a data logger. This being my first project, I discovered the fun of electronics and its incredible possibilities!! The best part is that it works perfectly!!

Now, the next part of the project is to make the power consumption as small as possible. Right now if I leave the camera on all night it drains the battery in a couple of hours even if it doesn't take any pictures (6 x AA).
This is because in low light setting the camera uses IR LED's to motion detect. The camera itself uses 75 mA and when the IR LED's are on, it uses 350 mA.

My plan is to install another motion detector, an IR distance detector (http://www.adafruit.com/products/164) that uses only 30 mA in order to function. This detector would "wake up" the camera to take a couple pictures. Then the camera would shut down until an other trigger.

My questions are :
What is the best way to power down the camera using the IR distance sensor?

Is this a realistic project?
Has someone done this before? If yes, I would greatly appreciate knowing how and seeing the scipting part! Being a newb, I don't really know where to start...

Also, does anyone know if it is possible to open up the VC0706 weather proof camera? I would maby try to remove a couple of IR LED's to reduce power consumption? Would that be a good idea?

Thank you!

[henk]

Have you checked out this site: http://jeelabs.net/projects/cafe/wiki jcw has done a lot with low power stuff. It is worth a look.

[Waso]

Thanks for the link!
I have looked at it and I find it very interesting.

[elizaaden]

Nice one. I want to know about discount or shipping charges.

[HelloMoto]

I saw this post searching for a similar idea for remote security monitoring over my smart phone using a simple digital camera (and cheap, preferably). Where I am stuck is finding the right camera.
There's something out there called eye-fi (google it), which, in a nut shell, is an SD card that can transmit your photos wirelessly (via a broadband network). All this within the SD card itself. If your nest is within 45-75 ft of a network, you're in business.
Now for a camera. One site suggested a canon a540 ($30 on Amazon, 6MP) as it has motion detection. From what I was able to find, however, the a540 can only handle 2GB SD cards (eye-fi is 4 or 8 ).
My question: Does anybody know of a cheap (under $100, prefer under 50) digital camera that has motion detection? Even better if it has some way to connect to an AC or DC power supply to stay powered full time.