24May09.  All gone again! I was late up this morning and was just in time to capture the last one about to leave the nest at 0545.
20May09.  The boldest chick is already starting to stick a nose out of the hole. Not long now.
19May09.  They're so big, they have to take turns sitting in the nest!
14May09.  I miscounted previously: all six are still there, hale and hearty. From the way they elbow each other and jostle for position, I suspect they are all cock birds. 12May09.  Already big enough to push and shove and generally squabble. They're even starting to try to get out of the nest when their parents' backs are turned.
08May09.  Their plumage is darkening already, making them a little easier to see. Counting the open beaks when the parents enter the box, I think we are down to five now.
07May09.  They are definitely taking shape now. All six are out as far as I can tell, and they are about the size of the parent's head.
I've reset the brightness and contrast on the uploaded images, but they are still a struggle to make out. Perhaps next year I'll think about getting a better camera.
04May09.  The first chick has hatched - and the second! You may have to look hard to see it in these images.
01May09.  Switching to a picture every 20 minutes to try to capture more of the comings and goings
27Apr09.  Sweet. For a while there, I was beginning to wonder if Mrs Tit was a single mother, but no, I see Mr Tit popping in at intervals now, feeding Mrs Tit as she keeps the eggs warm.
23Apr09.  Yep, definitely eggs! Six so far, by the looks of it.
20Apr09.  Eggs! I think. I might be mistaken, but I think I glimpsed four eggs before the hen settled down this evening.
15Apr09.  She was on the nest until relatively late this morning, so maybe she is getting ready to lay the odd egg. (On the record of the last two years, we have about another ten days to go.)
24Mar09.  I don't know whose feathers they are, but they certainly make it look more like home.
17Mar09.  The've got the floor covered, at last.
13Mar09.  There's a regular war going on outside between the two tits and a pair of sparrows. (Sparrows don't live in boxes, so presumably they are competing for the food in the area.) But inside the box, they seem to be getting down to some serious nest-building at last.
04Mar09.  A tit in the box every night, now, but still not a lot of nest-building going on.
28Feb09.  We have a resident! It's now 1900 and a tit is curled up in the bottom of the nesting box, asleep despite lack of bedding material so far. Unfortunately, my ISP's FTP service is down so I can't upload pictures. Maybe tomorrow, then.
24Feb09.  Two tits in the box together today. No big stand-off this time, so I gather this is Mr and Mrs Tit, getting ready to make a home.
23Feb09.  Beakfulls of moss and dry grass coming in this morning.
19Feb09.  Wanabe woodpecker; the resident tit has been hammering away at the walls of the nesting box with his beak to the extent that he managed to pick substantial slivers off it and drop them to the floor. Much more of that and there'll be a second entrance to the box.
17Feb09.  It's gone a bit quiet again, though I notice after the recent spate of activity, the floor looks a lot cleaner. The bits of nesting material seem to have been swept against the sides by all the coming and going. (That's my kinda housework!)
I've registered this webcam with webcampedia-dot-com today, so hello to tit-watchers from near and far.
13Feb09.  Much activity this week. At one point, there seemed to be a bit of a contest as two tits appeared in the box at the same time. They seem to have sorted out who has squatter's rights now, and just the one bird has been in and out of the box since then. He/she seems to be doing a sort of ritual of ownership; vibrating spread wings while shuffling around the floor. Presumably it is actually some sort of marking behaviour, but I like to think it is a bird ritual.
04Feb09.  A second visit!
24Jan09.  Just spotted my first little visitor, peering up suspiciously at the camera.
22Jan09.  Away from the office today, so the webcam didn't get switched on. However, Mrs S reports intensive tit action (sorry) around the nesting box, and I see there are the first few strands of nesting material now in place.
20Jan09.  All set up and standing by. Mum and dad tit have already been inspecting the box during morning visits to the bird table. We had a few really frosty days and I wondered if they might shelter in it, but I didn't have the camera set up in time to get any pictures. It's a pity I can't capture the audio output from the security camera; as I sit here at my desk, I can occasionally hear them landing on the perch, scuffling around and chirping. Cute.