superkitty Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Nope, not in the eglu (although that would be interesting!) My mum bought me one of these a few years back as a birthday present and bluetits have nested in it for the last two years. It has provided untold hours of entertainment (if you can call standing in front of the tv in the kitchen for long periods of time gazing intently at it, with whatever I was supposed to be doing totally forgotten, entertainment!) The first year was a disaster, all the chicks hatched but then all died for some reason - it was awful. But last year they hatched 12 of 13 eggs and there was a wonderful couple of days where they all fledged and hung around the garden (watched by two slavering and v annoyed cats who had been confined indoors for 2 weeks, because I didn't know when they were going to fledge!) For some reason we have always called the bluetit family The Pickles. (e.g. Mr and mrs pickle and the baby pickles.....don't ask ) SO...pleased to report that this week the pickles are back! A little earlier than normal but i guess it has been very warm. They have started filling up the nestbox and Are in and out of it all day..and last night one of them spent the night sleeping in the nest box with its head under its wing. The cutest ball of fluff I wondered whether anyone else has one of these and whether anything is nesting in it? First night in the nestbox by Faith Al-Egaily, on Flickr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowy Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 How lovely! Fingers crossed for another nice big family for them Look forward to seeing more pics as the family progresses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 Great news! I have cameras in two tit boxes a sparrow box and a swift box. It's wonderful to watch. The swifts especially will just one day stop feeding the chicks and just leave the nest. The youngsters mooch about for two or three days screaming for food before they decide to look for themselves and just fall out of the box into the sky,not touching land for two years before they themselves will nest. Amazing, I think. Two years ago one of our blue tit pairs reared 16. All four have birds roosting through the winter, one having ten wrens in it at one time most nights, and I have to seal up the swift box from now till the swifts come otherwise starlings will use it. Costs me a fortune in live mealworms when they get going. The sparrows will have three broods Your blue tits are unlikely to be the same pair, maybe two years running but not three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superkitty Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 Ooh, I'd love to have more boxes - especially swifts, they'd be fascinating! Its finding the right place to put the boxes thats the problem where we are now. When we move in a year or so's time, hopefully I'll be able to put more up. 16 is very impressive! Last year the pickles laid 13 and hatched and fledged 12, we were over the moon! Do yours have birds roosting in them all year long then? That seems much more sensible....I have tried to tell the pickles that they are welcome to sleep in it all winter and that they'd be much warmer, but they don't listen (oh, we figured that it would be a different family each time, we just call them all the Pickles. On a similar theme, all the squirrels, male or female, that have ever visited/raided the peanut feeders wherever we've lived have always been called Reggie ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 As soon as nesting season is over I clean up the boxes and leave them empty. By October there are always residents over night. Strangely the blue tits that roost are male and make a horrendous mess in the box over winter and the sparrow female and really tidy and clean. I'd love an owl box with a camera. We have Tawnies here but as they are so territorial with existing nest sites we would probably be out of luck but I might try a Barn Owl box for next year. Hubby bought himself one of those wildlife cameras that you can leave to be triggered by movement and we have had lots of Roe Deer on video. I'm looking forward to Springwatch, though I feel it's got a bit stupid.....bring back Bill Oddie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superkitty Posted March 17, 2012 Author Share Posted March 17, 2012 Completely with you on that one. I genuinely miss him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
