The Raspberry Pi itself is fine, I could still log onto it but unfortunately, when I tried to start up the motion detector python it complained it couldn't find the camera and that I should try enabling the camera. Now, clearly I'd already done this so some more investigation was required.
I then tried to take a still picture with raspistill, but this returned the following:
mmal: Camera is not detected. Please check carefully the camera module is installed correctly
This didn't look good.
I decided to take the Birdbox down to investigate. Being November there are no issues around disturbing nesting birds and the box itself can be taken down and cleaned between September and January.
The Birdbox was showing signs of age but the Raspberry Pi and Power over Ethernet box both looked as good as new.
As for the camera, this was looking a bit worse for wear. It turns out a large spider had made a home under the camera and had made meals of a number of woodlice.
After getting the Camera IC indoors I could certainly now see some quite significant corrosion. This is clear in the image below taken with a microscope. In particular the C8 capacitor looks to have corroded completely. Notice also the droppings.
I have a spare camera so I'll be setting up a new installation. Next time I'll look at to seal it more thoroughly.
Some links I discovered while looking for what the corroded capacitor was for
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