Bluetit Diary 2002 - February

Saturday 2nd February.

Elizabeth saw a bird on the entrance to box 1 - it spent some minutes looking in, but could not quite pluck up the courage to go in.  There were several more visits during the day, but no entries as far as we are aware.

Sunday 3rd February

Elizabeth reckoned that a bird would soon go in the box – it did, and we watched several visits on the TV.  Almost the first time it went into the box, it tried to get up to where the camera is.  It  managed to peck at the lens once, but normally cannot get a grip on anything to stay there.  Its behaviour is just the same as last year’s bird, and we are wondering if it could be the same one.  (See the diary for March 2001 to read about our problems with the bird attacking the camera).  We have the TV sound turned on, and we can recognise that familiar noise as a bird lands on the entrance to the box, and goes in.

Malcolm is optimistic that the cardboard cylinder may have done the trick.  The bird finds it difficult to stay up there as there is nothing to cling on to. On one of the few times she briefly succeeded in holding on she pecked at the camera lens, but she can't get at the wiring as this is on the other side of the cylinder.

Monday 4th February

We monitored box 2 today, but as far as we know a bird has not yet gone in,  though we have seen one looking in.  Observing box 2 from the outside is not so easy - we have to stand on the  landing to notice any activity, whereas box 1 is visible from the sitting room and dining room. 

Tuesday 5th February

A bird went into box 1 – then another perched on the edge of the hole and looked in.  The first bird came out, pushing past the one on the hole, and the second one promptly went in.  This happened again a bit later.  One of the birds spent some time in the box, pecking around on the floor, and it also performed a "nesting wriggle".  The picture shows it taking and interest in a couple of marks on the side wall of the box.  (See also Wednesday 28th February 2001 for a description of the "nesting wriggle").  It looks as though two females are again competing for ownership of the nest box.   

Friday 8th February

Malcolm saw a bluetit go into box 2, and shortly after a second bird went in.  Immediately one bird left, but the other one stayed inside for a little while.  At the moment it is not easy to switch the TV monitoring between the two boxes.  Hopefully this will be improved before too long.

Monday 18th February

There has not been a great deal of activity since the diary was updated.  We have been monitoring box 1 on the TV, because of the difficulty of switching from one box to the other.  Also since we can see box one from our bedroom, sitting room and dining room, it is much more likely that we will notice any activity, whereas with box 2 we have wait on the landing to see if anything is happening.

Tuesday 19th February

Today we decided to monitor box 2.  We were pleased to see a few pieces of moss in the box, and later Malcolm saw 2 birds repeating the behaviour we had noted on February 5th and 8th in box 1.  Unfortunately he just missed photographing them passing in the box.  However, he did manage to get a photograph a moment later, which still shows the dust raised by this exchange of occupants.

As this was being written, towards the end of the day, a bird entered box 2 again.  It pecked around at the floor in a desultory fashion, looking a bit uneasy.  By this time it was nearly dusk and the light inside the box was casting a clear shadow on its floor.  Last year we found that the birds appeared completely unaffected by the artificial light inside their home, but perhaps this bird is not yet completely at ease with it.  Malcolm just managed to get a picture before it left.

Wednesday 21st February

At 5.15pm a bird came into box 2.  It is very windy, and there have been some periods of heavy rain during the day.  We wondered if the bird might decide to roost in the box – surely it would be cosier than sitting on a branch?  However after perching on the entrance, and looking out a couple of times, it decided to leave.

 Saturday 23rd February

The problem with the TV monitoring being changed from one box to the other has been solved.  One of our sons tracked down a simple unpowered switchbox (from Maplin Electronics, Order Code NA36P) that could be used to switch one of three inputs to two outputs, and brought it today as an early birthday present for Malcolm.  The third setting is used for the infrared camera that we use to record the fox that comes for its supper, usually after we have gone to bed.  Unfortunately the picture quality is not good enough to include a photograph here.

 Sunday 24th February

Elizabeth noticed some bluetit activity around box 1, and quickly changed over to view it, and found a bird already inside.  It stayed quite still in one corner for some while, until a plane went over, which seemed to prod it into action.  It went into a frenzy of pecking quite violently at one of the drainage holes in the floor of the box, then the walls, before moving to another corner where it had another energetic pecking session.  It finally went up to the hole, and after a brief stop, looking out, flew away.

There has been little activity so far in box 1.  We hope our severe reduction of the hornbeam tree has not had any effect on its suitability for a nest box.  Here are photographs showing before and after views.  We thought long and hard before having this operation performed on the tree, but it is in the south corner of the garden and caused nearly all of the garden to be in shade for most of the day.  We hope it will not be too many years before its looks improve, but a long time before the shade returns to the extent it was before.

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