Today has been a very pleasant warm and sunny day. Mm… perhaps I should have taken my Bloom Day photos – tomorrow is to be rainy once again! Like many parts of the UK this summer has been a bit of a wash out with the hot summer days seeming a distant memory at the moment. I expect many garden projects have been delayed – even the smallest of ones.
The garden project I mentioned in my last post was a small one but has been a very big part of my garden and this garden blog. We had some very heavy rain last week and into the weekend. So the box that was delivered earlier on in the week had to wait… and wait! This was a very special box and I am hoping that it will be third time lucky and not just for us!
So why have I taken so long to post on this? Well, I am a sentimental soul and with this new box we are moving on. Our new box isn’t just any old box. It is a replacement Nestbox with a camera. Lionel and Peggy at Camnest have very generously sent us a one of their new designs. We had issues with our roof leaking last year and this new design has a different roof. It looks like this roof might let in more natural daylight too and I can’t wait to see our first visitors.
A winter rooster around the end of October is the most likely first visitor we will get. Oh… but the lovely clean floor – I know it won’t be quite so clean after! Mm… but I do remember last year feeling so pleased to hear the tapping of a bird as it moved around our Nestbox on a cold and dark night. I knew that the winter rooster (a blue tit) would be warmer there that in trees and hedges. I knew that we were helping it survive the harshness of winter. I put some wood shavings on the floor last year and I will likely do the same again this year – although just one handful this time!
The last photos taken from our original Camera Nestbox have shown that there are two chicks still left in it. I had no wish to share these images. I don’t relish opening this Nestbox to remove the nest either but I can’t leave it there. I am returning my original camera Nestbox to Lionel and Peggy so they can see first hand how it survived the most extreme weather of all their customers so far. I do feel quite sentimental over this and can still remember the thrill of seeing the first visitors (a blue tit pair) just two days after putting it up!
The first photo from our new Camera Nestbox is shown below. As with our first Nestbox – we did the finger test as we put it up! So once again we are now in the wonderful position of having a clean new Nestbox with a camera sitting in wait to provide a dry winter home and nesting place for a pair visiting our garden. Thank-you Lionel and Peggy – I am sure the birds will appreciate the upgrade too!
I have absolutely no doubt that the first tapping sounds we will hear through the computer speakers, hailing the arrival of a bird inside, will be just as special as before. Although we have yet to see a successful brood survive to fledge the whole experience of seeing the tremendous hard work that goes into nest building and feeding chicks has been fascinating. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing this too.
Fingers will be crossed next spring that our Nestbox location will be successful for a third year. Fingers and toes will be crossed that we can share a Nestbox story once again but this time all the way to fledging chicks!
The photo above was taken on August 10th 2008. If you are interested in reading my nesting diary from the last two years see 2007 and 2008.
I look forward to any new residents you may have!
I know what you mean by garden projects being delayed by the rain, Shirl. It is even worse for us weekend gardeners, I think the last four weekends have had heavy rain on at least one day here. We are half way through some major work and I despair of getting the back garden looking nice again. Sunny here today, Friday, but the forecast for tomorrow is awful! I hope September is better, it was last year.
Best wishes Sylvia (England)
The weather in Bucks is also poor. Just been on holiday to Cornwall, and the weather was even worse there!
I hope a pair of Blue Tits take residence in your nestbox again too.
Best wishes, Joe
Good luck with the new box and I’m keeping my fingers and toes crossed for next year. Hopefully next year will give us the long and eagerly awaited succesful raising of a nest of Blue Tits.
BTW the weather has been bad here too with far too much rain. And now there are snowballs at Bliss too. In summer! Mindbogling! 😉
Hi again Nancy, Sylvia, Joe and Yolanda 🙂
Nancy – Thanks, me too 😀
Sylvia – Yes, having major work to be done in the garden over weekends must really be a problem. I bet you wish you had a magic wand. It has rained heavily here again today. We made a start on trimming our hedge last weekend and are hoping that this weekend we will get a dry spell to get more done or even finish it. Mm… it may need to be done in stages. Wishing you some dry weekends in your garden 😀
Joe – Yes, the whole of the UK seems to have had heavy rain. Even Yolanda in the Netherlands has had the same problem. Yes, we had rain on our visit to Cornwall many years ago but I’m sure they get good weather too by the plants you see growing there. I enjoyed your holiday posts, wildlife photos and video of inside the Eden Project. Thank-you, I hope we will too 😀
Yolanda – Thank-you! You’d think it has to happen one year 😉 However, after having another wet summer I would already speculate that food for chicks could be a problem again here in the UK for Spring 2009. It’s not just a problem in my garden as I find out through email and forums. Sorry to hear the weather is still bad with you – gosh what fantastic snowballs! Imagine the battle you could have with them 😉