Wednesday 18th April
A week ago I bought another glass plate to fit into the top of the box to
prevent the birds getting up to the camera area. The first one has some
dirty marks on it made when there was an obsession with getting up to the top of
the box again. I assumed that I would be able to replace the current plate
one evening when the box was empty. Ever since then, one of our birds has
roosted in the box each night! Tonight is no exception. By 19.45,
there was a bluetit inside the box preening and generally tidying and getting
ready for the night. Neither bird seems at all bothered by the light
inside the box, finding no difficulty at all in getting to sleep at dusk.
We generally switch off the light soon after, but on occasion have left it on
all night in order to record their early morning activity. Perhaps they
wake up a bit earlier than would otherwise be the case, but of course we have no
way of checking this. In any event, the roosting bird does not leave the
nest until it is quite light.
The nest appears to be completed. It has a couple of inches of moss
together with fur and feathers lining the hollow on the far side of the
box. We feel that our birds are only awaiting the warmer weather and the
caterpillars to start egg laying. Time will tell.
The weather is still disappointingly cold and so there has been little
activity in the box. However, our bird (or birds?) keep themselves
occupied by bring new fluff and feathers into the box - and as likely as not,
then taking them out again. Elizabeth sacrificed an old cushion a few days
ago in order to provide a ready source of feathers to all our birds. The
feathers could be 60 or 70 years old as they used to be part of my
grandmother's eiderdown before that was used to make some new cushions about 35
years ago. They seem to be appreciated!
Monday 23rd April
This afternoon our neighbour brought across more cat fur. Elizabeth
waited until our bird was active, then put the fur out on the ground fairly near
the nest. Unfortunately a great tit spotted it first, and was rapidly
gathering it (the cluster of fur was nearly as big as its head) before the blue
tit came upon the scene. She managed to secure a small amount, and took it
directly into the box. However, she then took it out again, and took it up
into the tree to rearrange it, before returning it to the box. She was
still not happy with her decor, and took it out again! This time a
greenfinch approached, and tried to steal her treasure. A tussle followed
until another bird intervened - we think it was the male blue tit - and she
hurriedly took her prize back into the box. She roosted in the box again
that night
Tuesday 24th April
We were out all day until the early evening, so we eagerly switched on the
camera to see if any progress had been made, but there were no noticeable
changes. Both birds were hopping around in the hornbeam, and we later saw
them mating. Roosting started at about 7.45pm, but this time with a
difference. The bird settled down with its head under its wing, but
aroused after about 15 minutes, had a preen and a stretch, then started fussing
around with the nest. She picked up a feather, and repositioned it, then
moved a piece of hay, had a strong "wriggle", turned around as if
shaping the nest cup before settling down again. This happened a few more
times before we decided to switch off the camera. We hoped this change in
behaviour in the evening indicated an egg laying to follow soon, especially
since we knew that David
Jones, a few miles away, who also has a camera-equipped box to observe blue
tits, had already found an egg being laid each day for the previous
three days. His is an excellent site with far more wildlife news than we
can show.
OTHER BIRD AND NEST NEWS
Last Saturday (21st), I discovered another nest in the garden. A
couple of months ago, I had installed an open-fronted box in an ivy clad corner
between the house wall and a trellis screen at right angles to it. On this
day a nest was found ON TOP OF THE BOX! We do not know if it still in use,
and do not like to investigate for fear of disturbing something. Elizabeth
goes past it several times each day when she goes out to feed the birds.
They always get their breakfast before she has hers. They are given
porridge oats and mixed seeds, and usually some chopped peanuts and/or grated
cheese. There are also hanging containers for black sunflower seeds, and
mixed seed. We have several grey squirrels who try to enjoy the food, but
we have succeeded in foiling their attempts at stealing the food in the hanging
containers and on the bird table. We also have a little shelf outside the
dining room window to put out mealworms for the robins. We sometimes have
as many as four robins competing for these. Two of them now come when we
open the window to put mealworms in the dish on the shelf, tap on the dish and
call them. Yesterday, for the first time, Elizabeth saw one robin feeding robin the other.
Wednesday 25th April
OUR FIRST EGG!
Great excitement this morning. When Elizabeth switched on the camera, an egg was clearly seen, quite uncovered. Unfortunately, before we could take a picture, the bird had covered it with a feather, hiding it completely. Later she rearranged things so that it can just about be seen in this not particularly good picture. Perhaps we should set the video recorder in the hope of another egg tomorrow? Our proposed holiday in May is definitely postponed now!
We did set the video recorder, and have been able to watch an action
replay. The second egg was laid at about 5.30am, but we could not see the
actual "birth". We had planned to set the video recorder again to try
to see the arrival of the next egg, but the bird seemed unwilling to settle down
for the night, so we decided to switch off the camera, as we did not want to
upset her.
Friday 27th April
A third egg. (The picture shows four as it was taken on Saturday!)