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Blue Tit nest build & first egg

Fantatsic news… this morning we have confirmation that our Blue tit nesting in our camera nestbox has laid an egg! I’m thinking she has actually laid two and the other is to the left but so far only one has been visible. So the story begins for real now. It would be absolutely brilliant if this one sees chicks fledge.

Photo above showing egg taken at 0640 on May 6th 2010.

Yesterday the female Blue tit wasn’t present at all in the nestbox during the day however at lunchtime today she appeared looking a little anxious around her nest for a little while. Perhaps other Blue tits in the garden were around.

Photo above taken at 1315 on May 6th showing egg and Mum-to-be.

As I’ve said before, my instincts here are that this is not a new Mum. Her nest build was quick and efficient. No mucking around taking all the material out again to start again as we have seen in the past. For those new to this story, I’ll give you a quick update.

Based on recent views inside the nestbox, I’m thinking she began her nest build on Friday the 30th May. We spotted moss in the nestbox for the first time on May 1st.

The video below taken on May 1st shows how quickly she was building her nest despite being chased by other birds in my garden. Notice how she slows down by running around the box.

There is added background music to this video and it gets louder as she flies further away for nesting material.

Based on the previous two nests we have seen completed it was clear that May 4th saw the final stages of the nest build with the final soft layer of feathers and wool coming in.

On May 4th, as I did for the previous nests, I put out a basket of natural wool material to hang on a tree branch. I picked it up from a RSPB shop.

Wonderfully within minutes of the wool hanging out the Blue tit had investigated the basket. Shortly after, she began to take some into her nest which you can see in the video below.

For those who can’t view my videos, the montage below shows stages of the nest build. The photos in row one were taken on May 1st. The photos in row two were taken on May 2nd and the remaining photos were taken on May 3rd.

When the Blue tit is seen curled up it is roosting. When the Blue tit is seen diving it is doing the nesting shuffle to make a nest cup to lay her eggs.

So there you have it, the nesting story begins. The next question is… how many eggs will be laid?

Finally, for those expecting a tulip photo fest posting today… it is coming… late tonight. I knew I might have a conflict in postings this week. A very nice position to be in though. I hope you’ll enjoy following the tulip fest too 😀

9 thoughts on “Blue Tit nest build & first egg

  1. Those itty bitty eggs are darling. I can't wait to see what happens next. Do they lay an egg per day like so many other birds? How large is the normal clutch? I feel like an Autntie awaiting a new family member. I hope all goes well.

  2. Hi again Rosie, it really is. Me too! I’m not going to cross fingers this time. It didn’t work the last two times.

    The only thing we could do differently is to name our Mum-to-be. I’ve avoided that in the past… Mm… still don’t know about that one 🙂

  3. Lisa, I agree they really are. They actually have a slight pink speckle to them too 🙂

    We have two cameras in this box and the other has much better colour but a more distant view. We had probs with interference using the two. We’ll look at this again over the weekend now that we have something to watch in there 😀

    Yes, one egg per day is what is likely with perhaps one day off. We have seen that. The clutches we have seen here were both 8 but 9-11 are quite possible.

    Me thinks we could need a spare Auntie yet. You know that bus theory? Just looked in on our other nestbox and we are getting activity in there again now too! Never seen a bird inside when I’ve been looking recently but there has been some shuffling on the floor. Much more material would need to come in yet for it to be used I’d think. Curious though… wonder what will happen there too 😀

  4. Great post Shirl, dont think I would get much done if I had this set up I would be glued to the screen 🙂

  5. Hi Shirl, That is fantastic news about your egg(s). We will be glued to your blog and wish you all the best for more eggs to come. Thanks again for a lovely website from all at Handykam.

  6. Sorry for my slow replies. Hope you’ve all had a good weekend. Egg laying has continued and I am guessing today saw our 5th egg laid. I am unable to access my PC at the moment due to a drive problem and at present we are backing up photos hoping that the drives will hang on. Tomorrow night the video drive will be replaced, fingers crossed that’s the prob and after more back-ups hopefully all will be as was 😀

    Carla, it certainly is. Not the best time for PC probs but better now than when the chicks start hatching… that is fascinating to watch 😀

    Mike, thanks, it is compulsive viewing although fortunately (when I can’t see in the nest at the moment) there isn’t a huge amount to see during egg laying. When the female starts incubating the eggs nothing much happens for a couple of weeks. Then… you really are glued to the screen 😀

    Mike and the team at Handykam, thanks, it is great news… not the time for hard drive problems though! At least we’re not at the hatching stage. I can’t access my passwords at the moment to go to my Youtube channel to reply to your video comment. Thanks for that and for subscribing too. Thanks also for your kind comments about my blog. I really would be thrilled to tell a successful nestbox story 😀

  7. This is so exciting but nature can be cruel. We had a pheasant that became so tame he would come into the house and take food from our hand but then a fox got him. How we miss him banging on the window for his breakfast

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