Monday, 31 May 2010

Blue Tit Nesting Box May 31st. End of the Story

Well, that's it - all over. The remaining 6 chicks flew the nest this morning and I now have an empty nest. I feel very priviledged to have been able to witness the beginnings of new life.


Empty nest

It's been an amazing few weeks watching the nest box and here is a timetable of the progress from the first visitor to the nest to the last chick leaving:


13th Feb - First visitor visits the box.
15th Feb - Nest building begins.
13th Apr - I first noticed the female roosting in the completed nest overnight.
16th Apr - Mum and Dad 'do the business'
18th Apr - First egg laid
26th Apr - Final total of 9 eggs
9th May - 6 eggs hatched
10th May - 8 eggs hatched (one egg didn't hatch and one chick didn't make it)
30th May - 0730 1st chick flies off
31st May - between 0630 - 0645 the remaining 6 chicks fly the nest and later I noticed one of the parents visiting the empty nest several times, probably wondering where her babies are! Or maybe a second brood may be raised, I believe that sometimes happens. Watch this space ....

I just managed to video (with my camera) the last chick flying off - but be warned - if you blink you will miss it. It all happened very quickly and I wasn't able to follow it. It flew across my lawn into the hedge at the back of my garden.




Good luck little birds, have a long and happy life.

Sunday, 30 May 2010

Blue Tit Nesting Box 30th May

One chick fledged around 0720 this morning, leaving 6 in the nest. It flew across my patio and landed on my roof. I hope it is ok and was not a magpie's breakfast. I will never know. It is now nearly 3 hours later and no more have gone. The wind picked up shortly after the one left so maybe that is why they are not going, I don't know. I could do with a crystal as I am glued to the computer just in case ...

6 left.


Here you can see a chick looking out and pondering the big world outside



and here is mum or dad paying a visit. You can just see a chick inside the hole.

You can tell by this video that the chicks are very active and obviously ready to fly the nest. They seem to be preening themselves a lot, obviously preparing their feathers for flying. Mum or dad are still visiting with food and doing 'toilet duty'.
This video was taken just before the first chick left.


Wednesday, 26 May 2010

26th May

Update on the nest in the peg bag in the garage. I peeped in very carefully this morning and a robin was sitting on the eggs. Oh well, my car will not be garaged for the next few weeks!

Tuesday, 25 May 2010

Tit Box 25th May

There has been another development today. Not only are the chicks much more active but they have now found that they have got voices! I heard them chirping for the first time today and you can hear them on this video. And if you watch carefully you will see one of the chicks go 'arse-up' so 'mum' can catch the poo-pod and take it out of the nest. Clever stuff.



Sorry you can't see the videos if you are looking on Facebook, for some reason they are not uploaded. You'll have to go to the blog site.

Monday, 24 May 2010

Tit Box 24th May


It's been a while since I posted any titbox news, mainly because it has been the usual routine of the parents feeding and cleaning out the nest

I have just been away for 3 days, and came home to a huge change. The chicks have left their 'cup' nest in the middle of the box and are now very mobile and moving around the floor of the nest. They now have lots of downy feathers and stretch and flap their wings occasionally. They are looking like proper little birds now.

Here is a video of the chicks grooming themselves. I suspect there are probably a lot of fleas in the nest worrying them. Also, it is very hot today which doesn't help. You can see 'mum' top left of the screen doing some housework before she leaves to go on another food sortie.




On the same bird subject, this morning I discovered a birds nest in my peg bag which hangs on the wall in my garage. It must have been built and eggs laid very quickly as it is not that long ago that I used the pegs to hang out washing. I suspect it has been abandoned as I haven't seen any birds going in through the window today. I have had robins nesting the the garage several times and although I am not good at recognising bird's eggs, I suspect it must be robins. Here are 2 photos, one looking down into the bag to see the nest, and the other showing the location in my garage. I expect I scared the parent(s) away when I unsuspectingly went into the garage to get my car out or when I took the bag to the clothes line. Luckily I have another stock of pegs so I will leave the bag untouched and leave the car in the drive just in case they come back.





Thursday, 13 May 2010

Tit Box 13th May


Here is a pic of Mum feeding her babies.
I think there are 8 chicks, with one egg not hatching, but it is diffucult to see as they are always wriggling around. Also, there seems to be one chick that is being ignored. Sadly it may not survive - who knows.

At one stage during a feeding routine this morning a large jay landed on the nestbox and Mum immediately stopped feeding and sat on the birds as if to protect them. She stayed there for quite a while and Dad came in with food which he passed to Mum who then fed her babies.

It is all fascinating viewing.

And here is a video of the action


Monday, 10 May 2010

Tit Box May 10th 2010


It is difficult to see, but I think 2 more eggs are hatched,
leaving just one.

And here is a short vidio of the babies in the nest.
They seem to be all mouth!

Sunday, 9 May 2010

Tit Box May 9th 2010


6 Babies this morning. Still 3 more eggs to hatch.

Wey-hey! Let's hope they all (or at least most of them) survive.

Monday, 26 April 2010

Tit Box 26th April 2010

9 eggs this morning.


I looks like 10, but I am pretty sure the 'egg' top right is a feather, but not 100% sure. We'll see.
Mum has spent most of the time this morning sitting on the eggs and being fed every so often by Dad. She does take a break occasionally.

Sunday, 25 April 2010

Tit Box 25th April 2010

8 eggs today. How many more?

Update 7.20pm. I have just seen 'dad' bringing food into the nestbox for 'mum' who is sitting on the eggs. She spends some of the day brooding and goes off quite frequently, presumably to feed, but this is the first time I have seen her being fed.

Saturday, 24 April 2010

Thursday, 22 April 2010

Tit Box 22nd April 2010

6 eggs this morning




Wednesday, 21 April 2010

Blue Tit Nesting Box April 21st 2010

Things are progressing, there are now 4 eggs in the nest.


(7.15pm) And here is mum keeping her eggs warm for the night. It was interesting to note that she did not roost in the nest proper until eggs were laid.


Monday, 19 April 2010

Tit Box 19th April 2010

Eggs-cellent! Two eggs.

Friday, 16 April 2010

Tit Box April 16th 2010 (Time for Bed)

After her 'goings on' today the little bird is having an early night (obviously exhausted!) - and I was able to capture her going to bed on video. It's strange that she roosts on the edge of the nest and not in the 'cup' she has made. She is possibly saving that for her eggs.

If you are reading this on Facebook you will have to go to the blog site to see the video.



Oops - you can hear my radio in the background. Sorry.

Tit Box April 16th 2010

Yesssss!!! I have just witnessed two birds 'doing the business' in the next box. Unfortunately the video wasn't connected to the computer - I just saw it on the tv screen - so I can't share that private moment with you!

Eggs soon hopefully.


Tuesday, 13 April 2010

Tit Box 13th April 2010 - A Tenant!

I haven't made any entries lately because nothing different has been going on in the titbox. The bird is continually visiting and the materials inside are looking more and more like a nest.

Then lo and behold last evening just as I was about to turn the camera off I noticed I had a 'rooster'! So the busy little bird that has been building the nest has obviously decided it is 'home' and settled in for the night. The picture below is very blurred as it was taken when it was getting dark and the light was fading, but you can just see a little ball of fluff in the top right-hand corner where the bluetit had settled down for the night.



I think it is a female because, according to biggonline.co.uk, it is the female that builds the nest and they also had a 'rooster' (named Della) in one of their boxes. They have several boxes and they recognise the birds and have named them - don't ask me how, they all look the same to me. I can't even tell the difference between the male and female.

Hopefully this lonely little lady will find a mate soon and get going with the 'business' and start a family!

Monday, 22 March 2010

Tit Box 22nd March

There have still been lots of comings and going in the titbox but nothing special to report yet. I have discovered from another website


that it is the female that does the next building and who does the 'shuffle'. We live and learn.

Now that the warmer spring weather seems to be coming (at last) I am hoping for some real action soon.

Friday, 5 March 2010

Tit Box 5th March 2010

Still not very much happening during the few weeks since I last posted. I guess it is still a bit early and still too cold for much action.

There are continual comings and goings and at last it seems that more nest building material is in the box than before. I still see the twigs etc being taken out, but not so often. The tits are sometimes taking moss from my lawn - the more the better as far as I am concerned!

Here is the latest video clip (again, apologies for the background noise - I will try and get rid of it somehow):



At the end of the above clip you can see the bird sitting in the entrance hole having a good look out, and then he/she spent some time pecking around it:



Monday, 15 February 2010

Tit Box 15th Feb 2010

Not a lot has been happening over the last couple of days. The box is still being frequently visited both with birds taking nesting materials in and then taking it out again. Whether or not it is the same birds all the time, I don't know. It would be so interesting to know what is going on in their little bird brains!

This morning I finally got a short video of something I have often seen on the screen but not been able to capture. When the bird brings a bit of nesting material in, it spreads in wings and tail out and does a strange sort of shuffle- I assume to spread the nesting material around the floor:

(Again, if you are reading this on FaceBook you will have to go the original site to view the video. If it looks like a plain black square just click on 'play' you should see the action).



Here is a photo showing the location of the box, on the side of the garage wall opposite my kitchen door. I get a good view of it from where I usually sit at the kitchen table wasting time on this laptop!


... and here is a close-up of the box - if you look carefully you can see a little blue tit peeping out.


You can see an opaque perspex window on the side - there is one on the other side too. These are to allow light in for the camera. They don't seem to bother the birds.

Saturday, 13 February 2010

Blue Tit Nesting Box Feb 13th 2010

For Christmas 2008 my daughters gave me a blue tit nesting box with built in camera for viewing inside the nesting box on a TV.

I didn't put it up in 2009 knowing I was going to be away during the critical time (see link to my travel blog in the column on the right) so I put it in place a couple of weeks ago for this year's nesting/breeding period. I have placed it in the same place as an old, well-used one in the hope that the tits will know the location and approve of their new upgraded home.

About a week ago I was delighted to see tits frequently going in and out of it - obviously giving it the once-over to see if it was suitable for them to move in.

A few days later bits of twigs etc. started to appear and I became convinced that nest-building was starting. Exciting times!

Then today strange things started to happen: birds were appearing and taking the nesting material OUT of the box. It can only be one of two things: either the prospective tenants had found better accommodation; or rivals were coming in and thieving. Only time will tell.

It is very early days yet, winter still being upon us, and I suspect it will be few weeks before things begin to seriously happen.

Here is my first attempt at posting a video. The camera is situated in the roof of the nesting box so the aspect is looking down to the floor of the interior. (Sorry about the background noise - I am new to this and will try to find a way to get rid of it)

(The video doesn't seem to appear on the FB version so if you want to see it you will have to go to http://judy-bluetitnestingbox.blogspot.com/. )


I have decided to keep a track of this nesting box on a blog and post it to Facebook so those who are the slightest bit interested can read it and look at the photos/videos. Those who aren't interested can ignore it - easy!

I will blog again as and when interesting things happen. I know that if this nesting box is successfully occupied I will become addicted to it. What with the laptop/internet here in the kitchen window and now this compulsive bird-spying during daylight hours I will become even more rooted to this chair and even less will be done around the house!