Could you recommend a recorder that will work well picking sound from 10-30m away? I've moved to the area with few houses not far away. I thought of leaving the recorder on the window sill outside for couple of nights see if it picks anything from houses opposite. Some of them leave windows open

I'm actually looking for few options to purchase.
1) USB or some kind of mini recorder that I can ''drop'' near the house and collect in the morning. I've had one before, but wasn't happy with quality as it had a lot of self noise.
2) Recorder that will be able to pick from 10-30m probably with some kind of directional mic, I think it's called cardioid microphone. Or the recorder that I can connect to such microphone.
3) A ''shotgun'' mic that can give live listening option, doesn't need to record.
Budget would be around £200.