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Nest box photos 2001 |
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In April 2001 we erected a nest box containing a small black and white board camera which was initially connected up to the TV and later to the computer through a TV card, which gave far better results as the photos obtained could be tweaked with software. It would have been nice to have a colour camera installed but that would mean having white light in the box and undue disturbance to the birds. The day the box was erected we had a Blue Tit enter the box and he must have liked it because next day him and his mate started construction of the nest. Over the next couple of weeks there were constant comings and goings as more material was brought in. It was a cold damp Spring but neither bird roosted in the box until one day the female didn’t leave and next morning there was an egg. The adjustments to the nest continued and over the next nine days eight eggs were laid. About two weeks later the first egg hatched and then one each day for the next seven days. Eight in all were laid, but only six hatched. Over the next two weeks we were on tender hooks, as despite a plentiful supply of seed and meal worms, the chicks began dying one each day. We still don’t know the cause, perhaps it was the cold, though the chicks looked like they had flu. On the day that two were left, one collapsed and the other sat at the entrance and with a bit of encouragement from a parent, managed to fly out. The mother returned a couple of times to the box, but there were no more survivors. The Blue Tits stayed in the garden and we are sure it they are the same as we have still today. This year after lining it with more wood to insulate it, the box has been taken over by a roosting Great Tit. Being a much larger bird, it pretty much fills the box. It has spent every night in the box since the beginning of December. There are still Blue Tits checking the box each day, obviously looking for somewhere to build again, but they soon leave on sensing the presence of the Great Tit. A female Great Tit has also been visiting in the day time, so we are keeping our fingers crossed. |
