Overview

Brood Start of
nest building		 Start of
roosting		 Nest
 complete		 First egg
 laid		 No of
eggs		 Incubation started Start of hatching Wing Flapping Fledging No
fledged
2001 Box1 26 Feb 27 Feb 18 Apr 25 Apr 9 4 May 16 May 30 May 4 Jun 6
2002 Box1 9 Mar 25 Mar   18 Apr 8 1 May 13 May 28 May 1 Jun 7
2002 Box2 19 Feb 21 Mar   7 Apr 8+3 7 May
 (note 1)		 19 May   7 Jun 5
2003 Box1 11 Mar 31 Mar 20 Apr 24 Apr 8 5 May 16 May   5 Jun 6
2003 Box2 29 Mar 31 Mar 19 Apr 25 Apr 5 30 Apr 13 May 27 May 31 May 2
(note2)
2004 Box1 1 Mar 18 Apr 21 Apr (note 3) -          
2004 Box2 20 Mar 7 Apr 5 Apr 16 Apr 7 23 Apr 6 May 19 May 24 May 7
2005 Box1 (GT) 10 Apr
 (note 4)		 21 Apr 13 Apr 22 Apr 5 27 Apr 9 May   29 May 5
2005 Box2 11 Mar 5 Apr 5 Apr 13 Apr 8 21 Apr 4 May 19 May 25 May 6
2006 Box1 (GT) 6 Apr
(note 4)		   18 Apr 20 Apr 5 24 Apr 6 May   25 May 2
2006 Box2 8 Mar   20 Apr 21 Apr 10 29 Apr 11 May 29 May 1 Jun 8
2007 Box1 (GT) 1 Mar
(note 4)		 5 Jan 15 Mar 11 Apr 6 16 Apr 28 April 14 May 18 May 6
2007 Box2 23 Feb   7 Apr 13 Apr 10 21 Apr 2 May (note 5)    
2007 Box3 24 Mar   12 Apr 14 Apr 9 21 Apr 4 May (note 5)    
2008 Box1 (GT) 26 Mar
(note 4)		 29 Mar 12 Apr 22 Apr 5 26 Apr (note 6)      
2008 Box2 11 Mar 17 Apr 12 Apr 18 Apr 11 26 Apr 9 May 20 May 28 May 10
2008 Box3 (GT) 29 Mar
(note 7)		 8 May 7 May 9 May 5 13 May 25 May (note 8)    
2009 Box1 13 Mar   20 Apr 22 Apr 9 3 May 16 May 1 June 4 June 2
2009 Box2 18 Feb   6 Apr 11 Apr 12 21 Apr 3 May   24 May 6
2010 Box1 20 Feb 18 Apr 22 Apr 23 Apr 10 30 Apr 14 May 27 May 4 Jun 3
(note 9)
2010 Box2 20 Feb 7 Apr 12 Apr 16 Apr
(note 10)		            
2010 Box3 15 Apr   22 Apr 24 Apr 8 29 Apr 12 May 25 May 30/31 May 5
2011 Box1 24 Feb 9 Apr 10 Apr 12 Apr
(note 11)		 14 22 Apr 4 May   23/26 May 7
2011 Box2 10 Mar 29 Mar 29 Mar 12 Apr 10 19 Apr 1 May 14 May 21 May 10
2011 Box3 21 Mar 6 Apr 10 Apr 14 Apr 10 22 Apr 4 May   23 May 9

Note 1.  After the first 8 eggs had been laid, a fight over possession of the nest took place.  Fresh nesting material was brought in and nearly 3 weeks later the new hen started laying.  By the time that a further 3 eggs had been laid the original clutch had resurfaced and she probably thought she had laid all 11!  Six eggs eventually hatched and five chicks fledged.

Note 2.  Three chicks were taken from the nest box by a great spotted woodpecker shortly before they fledged.

Note 3. The female disappeared shortly after she had completed the nest.  The male continued to call her and bring food to the nest for her for over two weeks.

Note 4.  A great tit pair occupied Box1 these years.  Incubation and fledging times differ little from those of bluetits.

Note 5. Three days after hatching, all the chicks in this box were dead.  How they died is not known for certain, but is believed to be due to lack of food..

Note 6.  This nest was deserted for unknown reasons early on 1st May.

Note 7.  This nest was started by a bluetit but deserted before the nest was completed or eggs laid.  The nest box was subsequently taken over by a great tit who started adding more material on 7th May.  The rest of the dates relate to the great tit's occupancy.

Note 8.  After a couple of days, the male great tit seemed to lose interest in bringing food to the nest.  He only visited infrequently and on the third day the chicks started dying.  By the morning of the fifth day, all the chicks were dead.

Note 9.  The male bluetit disappeared during egg laying and only 3 of the 10 eggs hatched.  The female managed to bring these chicks to a successful fledging by herself. 

Note 10.   The female disappeared shortly after being fed by her partner at 11.30am on Saturday 17th April, the day after she laid her first egg.  The male continued to visit the nest box once each day for several days.  We fear the female must have been predated.

Note 11.  Two females laid eggs in this nest box and then competed to see which would incubate the eggs.  Amy won that competition!