Henslaved Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 (edited) Just had to share this Had my first visit of the year from a female blue tit checking out the nest box Sorry about the quality tho as I took it on my mobile (didn't have time to plug the cables into the computer ) Edited May 10, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 It's wonderful. What's your camera set up? Have you got extra lights in the nest box to give such good colour? I shall miss mine, I had two blue tit,(one of them raised 14 babies last year, cost me a fortune in mealworms ) one sparrow and a swift box set up but have taken the cameras out as the house is on sale. Are you going to put updates up on youtube? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 Camera set up is just one of those camera nest box kits from Aldi (£39.99) which includes nestbox, camera and cable they start selling them at the beginning of February but they're usually all gone within a few days. The light comes through the side panels which are made from white plastic, you can also see them at night too as the camera has infra red . You say you had a pair of Blue Tits that raised 14 babies, WOW! bet they kept mum and dad very busy (and you buying all those mealworms ). Last year I had a female that laid 8 eggs but only 7 hatched and when I came to clean out the nest box the unhatched egg was still intact and it was sooooooooo tiny, think I have a pic somewhere. I will post updates if anyone is interested! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Yes please do post updates. I can live vicariously I have an Aldi camera/nestbox, I think they are wonderful value. I had to cover the plastic as it was becoming clear the tits didn't like the extra light. I will give it another go next season. Good luck with yours, it's so addictive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted March 21, 2011 Author Share Posted March 21, 2011 Here's the egg from last year next to a mealworm, I knew I had the pic somewhere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky Mama Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Lovely I would love to get one of these kits for next year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 They are such tiny eggs. It's a wonder. This is the smaller of the two nests And this was the prettiest nest we had in the garden: a Dunnock's It was built in a little conifer on our patio and the pictures blurred because it was snatched on my mobile Look at the colour of those eggs....no Photoshopping here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted March 22, 2011 Author Share Posted March 22, 2011 The colour of those Dunnock eggs are amazing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted March 22, 2011 Author Share Posted March 22, 2011 Mr and Mrs Blue Tit made another appearance today . Looks like he came in first, then she swiftly kicked him out to do a bit of spring cleaning . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGtOxxV6roM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted March 22, 2011 Share Posted March 22, 2011 Lovely Keep them coming. She's put a lot of moss in already hasn't she? Was this box up over winter. Mine were and they were roosted in by males....you can always tell. A female keeps her roost clean and the male lives in poo. Wasn't it always thus? I have starlings in the swift box which is very annoying. My fault as I left the nest hole open, I usually shut it till end of April when the starlings are already nesting and the swifts are not yet here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted March 22, 2011 Author Share Posted March 22, 2011 She's put a lot of moss in already hasn't she? No that was me , after I cleaned and disinfected the boxes in November I went into the woods and collected some as I felt guilty for stealing someones winter duvet . Was this box up over winter. It was up over winter but no birds roosted in there. Mine were and they were roosted in by males....you can always tell. A female keeps her roost clean and the male lives in poo. Wasn't it always thus? :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted March 27, 2011 Author Share Posted March 27, 2011 Just an update from this mornings activities in the bird box . I would have posted some earlier but at the moment there's only activity in the mornings while I'm at work, but my OH keeps me informed of what's going on. Apparently the female had to fiercely defend the nest box from another Blue Tit yesterday and I missed it . Looks like he tried to bring her breakfast twice, but she seemed to be too busy spring cleaning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted March 27, 2011 Share Posted March 27, 2011 Thanks for that....lovely I see she is taking quite a bit of nesting material out. Last year one of mine emptied the nest completely twice before she was happy. I put sheeps wool,dog fur and coloured wool(not synthetic) in a peanut feeder for the nesting birds and last year we had red and blue wool in the nest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 More spring cleaning from the lil Blue Tit. Looks like I needn't have bothered putting the moss in there You try to help Sorry it's a bit of a long one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 I do miss mine Keep them coming Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 Just another quick update from this mornings activities Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted April 4, 2011 Share Posted April 4, 2011 She seems to have cleared out most of the old moss I love the way they wiggle even in an empty box One of my older boxes has a bumble nest in it, I'd love a camera in that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted April 4, 2011 Author Share Posted April 4, 2011 She seems to have cleared out most of the old moss I love the way they wiggle even in an empty box One of my older boxes has a bumble nest in it, I'd love a camera in that one. Hmmmm a bee box that would be interesting They make me smile too when they do that little nest box shuffle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted April 10, 2011 Author Share Posted April 10, 2011 Just a short video of my other nest box (which is also in the process of being emptied). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 lovely pictures. I've just looked back to my first nest two years ago and she laid the first egg on 26th April ...I was lucky enough to be watching at 7 in the morning and it was quite obvious she was laying...and the last on May 4th. When each egg was laid she covered the nest completely and the first glimpse I git was on day 7. On laying the last she stayed put. All fledged even though the male disappeared a week after they hatched. I did give her a lot of mealworms after he went. You're not so far south of me so maybe looking at a similar timescale for nesting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 Nest box number 2 is nearly full now. The first 50 seconds or so are from last tuesday, the rest is from this morning. She has just begun to bring feathers and fluff in just now. Not sure why, but the colour never seems as good on youtube, it's far better on my tv and computer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Colour looks good to me You'll be ordering mini meal worms in a month or so then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 How did you guess? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henslaved Posted April 21, 2011 Author Share Posted April 21, 2011 Update from Nest Box 1 Nest Box 2 seems to have been abandoned, it's full of nesting material but haven't seen any activity for a few days now, I suspect possibly predation from our resident sparrowhawk or cats, shame really . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted April 21, 2011 Share Posted April 21, 2011 Eggs soon. I loved playing spot the egg and the first time I didn't see any till she had laid seven. They are covered up so well. Last year I discovered she laid at 7.15 to 7.30 and I spotted her laying on three occasions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
