Sorry, no eggs to report yet - I think we are close though. Our Blue Tit female is still very busy with her nest which is definitely developing. As I type this now she is in fine tuning things. She is starting to bring odd feathers in now. It is becoming quite a work of art! The pictures below show progress over the last two days.
Blue tit in a hurry, video 0:22 with background music, try 480p quality.
Thursday morning, 9.22am, it looks like she has decided where the cup of the nest is to be. She continues to work at this area. Today she spends a lot of time taking material from the nesting egg which takes quite an effort - the video above shows her fall in. Never mind, she is being rewarded by the male who comes with food, every now and again, to the branches of the tree where the nesting egg is.
Friday morning, 9.25. I love this picture if it were an art piece it could perhaps be titled 'Turmoil'. The cup is still visible but this new top layer looks like she almost weaves it when she brings it in.
Friday afternoon, 2.57pm, the nest cup now looks like it is being lined with fluffy stuff again. This is not the first layer of the soft stuff to go in.
Friday evening, 8.20pm, and she is still fussing about at the nestcup. We also noticed that her breathing was unusually fast. She took a while to settle. It looked like she couldn't get comfortable again. Yes, we thought, could we see an egg in the morning?
This morning, 6.11am, no egg. I understand from other sites that they are usually laid one per day and a day can be skipped. They are laid early in the morning so, as I thought this could be the day, I got up early to see the action myself. I watched from 5.35am and the box was empty - she was up earlier than me! I was patient and watched a while longer just in case she was out getting food for energy. She didn't appear so I went back to bed. I need energy too - I've a busy day in the garden planned.
The last pic shows the nest as I publish this post. I wonder how it will look tomorrow.
Visitors beware… this blog contains way too much chat, photos and video on garden plants, birds and wildlife. It also goes wandering on visits to gardens and nature reserves!
There are cameras and links everywhere… are you brave enough to browse? I hope so :-D
No need for sensible shoes. Just click on the photo link above :-)
GARDEN BIRD VIDEOS, COME SEE WHO CATCHES MY EYE...
I’ve noticed Sparrowhawks appear in the garden during wind and rain. To see my more regular visitors they are hiding behind the handsome chap above – just click on his photo :-)
BLUE TIT NESTBOX DIARY 2010
Six eggs, two attentive parents, hundreds of caterpillars, insects & live mealworms. Result… six chicks successfully fledge! Click on photo link above to follow their story through chat, photos & video.
My small garden is in Perthshire, Scotland. I don’t have salmon in my pond, red deer in my borders, ospreys nesting in my acers or red squirrels at my peanut feeders! Nor do I have the world’s highest hedge, paths exciting enough for the serious cyclist and enough of a lawn for golf! However, Perthshire does plus many beautiful gardens too… follow the photo link above to see :-) Update Nov 2016 - Fantastic news, red squirrels now visiting feeders!
1 comment:
This is getting very exiting Shirl, can't wait to see the eggs. It really is a work of art she has made here, that and a labour of love.
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