Another busy day in both boxes. Most of our time has been spent monitoring Fluffy's efforts.
However, we shall start with a couple of pictures of Fantail and Fred.
In the first, Fantail has realised that Fred is in the box again and has come in so rapidly that she almost
lands on top of Fred. There is never any sign of aggression in these exchange sequences and it is difficult
to think of a reason for them. However, they seem a common thread in all bluetit nest building activity and
therefore I suppose they must have, or have had, some survival enhancing role.
Oops! Sorry Fred.
Another load of hay to bind the nest with.
Fluffy had another very busy day. She is still frequently drawn to the camera and sometimes pops up
there to poke around a bit. We haven't shown such behaviour recently as all the pictures look the same
with a big black blob filling them. However, just because we don't show it, don't presume Fluffy has
lost her obsession - she hasn't!
First some moss .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
and then more hay.
Then even more moss .. .. .. .. .. ..
and then a big wriggling session to press it into place.
We can often guess when a bird is coming in whether it is the male or the female. This is because the
male seems to spend a lot of time clinging to the outside of the nest hole before he enters. Although we
can't see him, we can see the variation in the level of the light inside the box as he hovers there.
Finally he enters, usually followed shortly after by the female, immediately causing him to leave.
Whether he is hovering outside while he is checking whether the female is inside, or whether he is trying
to attract her to follow him is not clear.
There have been a couple of occasions when Fluffy, or perhaps another bird, instead of entering the box
after Flash, has sat in the nest box hole with just her head inside. This upsets Flash immensely as
he can no longer leave the box, and as a result can spend quite a long time fluttering fruitlessly about
the inside of the box, trying to escape. She will finally relent and unblock the hole by entering,
thereby enabling Flash to leave.
Flash finally enters the box .. .. .. .. to be
followed quickly by Fluffy.
In comes Fluffy .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. "
What's he fussing about this time?"
