Comments on shirls gardenwatch: What goes on inside a Nestbox?

Hi there Mike, Lisa & Anna :-)Mike – Thank-you, it...

2008-04-19T09:22:00.000+01:00

Hi there Mike, Lisa & Anna :-)

Mike – Thank-you, it is interesting albeit a bit on the slow side. However, if we are lucky enough to see chicks hatch the action will increase then. Sorry, I haven’t been by your blog in a while – I have just had a peek and your woodpecker shots are fantastic :-D

Lisa – I can’t wait either! However this year the birds do seem to be behind last year’s dates. It was May 1st that we saw our first egg last year so I don’t expect we will see any before then. So she can take her time with her nest and perhaps she is a first time nester. The weather has been cold here too so that probably tells her that there’s no rush. If the temps warm up perhaps her nest work will speed up too :-D

Anna – Hello and welcome. Delighted to hear from someone who has nesting blue tits. I guess if I were to put up another Nestbox with a camera now I would put it up at the beginning of October as at the end of October last year we were able to see a blue tit roosting in it. This roosting continued even after our nesting pair began visiting during the day in January. The rooster continued to use the box until March. I see you are in Derbyshire so I would guess that you will be approx two weeks ahead of me with nesting birds. I’m guessing that you could have eggs in your Nestbox now. Here’s hoping you have a successful brood fledging :-D

Fantastic. Well done. I have a nest box in my gard...

2008-04-18T08:49:00.000+01:00

Fantastic. Well done. I have a nest box in my garden, and have had Blue Tits nesting in there for the last 2 years, since the box was put up. I keep meaning to add a camera into it, but I never get round to it, and then can be expensive. It's to late to do it this year but I'll try and get one put up for next year. What sort of time of year do you think I should install a camera?

I can't wait to see if we get to see any egg layin...

2008-04-16T01:07:00.000+01:00

I can't wait to see if we get to see any egg laying action. Maybe she is a first time nester and needs time for a little adjusting or learning what to do.

Great video Shirl, very interesting to watch all t...

2008-04-15T23:18:00.000+01:00

Great video Shirl, very interesting to watch all the activity.

Hi there Kim, Jane, Crafty Gardener and Martin :-)...

2008-04-15T22:45:00.000+01:00

Hi there Kim, Jane, Crafty Gardener and Martin :-)

Kim – Thanks for stopping by. Yes it is fantastic to be able to see inside a Nestbox far less being able to take photos and video from it. Oh… it is hard seeing her take so long to build the nest. But when you see the poor little thing breathing so fast in and after labour you get a different perspective of the strength these tiny fragile looking birds have. She does look a good size in the Nestbox but she is quite tiny :-D

Jane – Yep, what can you do but watch!! At least we are able to watch now. I have to say I am not sure that her behaviour is the norm. But it does seem to be so in my garden! I am not surprised at all that you already have fledged chicks. You are so much further south than I am. I believe that they are laying eggs in central England now too. Interesting to think that your box could get your used again. I have heard of nestboxes in the Netherlands that have two broods per year but as we are so much later off the starting block up here in Scotland I don’t think that is likely here. You’ll have to get photos of the young birds in your garden now :-D

Crafty Gardener – It really is! I just hope that we will be lucky enough to see eggs hatched and chicks survive longer than a week this year. It was so, so sad to watch the tiny chicks get so weak that they didn’t have the energy to open their mouths to get the food! A shortage of suitable foods was the problem last year as we had a warm dry April. That has not been the case this year, we have had plenty rain. So fingers crossed and crossed again :-D

Martin – Thanks for your comments on this. Although as I watch her in the Nestbox now when there is more material she really does look like she is having difficulty making a nest cup. Thanks for your comments on my videos. I have great fun with them :-D

I would say the shuffle she did (in the last video...

2008-04-15T17:41:00.000+01:00

I would say the shuffle she did (in the last video in this post), at around 30secs in the timeline, was excellent ! the frame rate of the video looks fantastic and clearly shows what is going on (mental note to self: must improve mine!)

How amazing to see right into the nest box. I'll ...

2008-04-14T11:50:00.000+01:00

How amazing to see right into the nest box. I'll be looking forward to seeing the developments of the nest and hopefully some babies.

Talk about a woman who changes her mind! She seems...

2008-04-14T07:28:00.000+01:00

Talk about a woman who changes her mind! She seems to have taken OUT more than she's taken IN! Great shots. I never realised this went on. Believe it or not our first nest of bluetits has already fledged... hoping some more will use the nestbox. Jane

How cool that you have these photos posted! I can ...

2008-04-14T01:00:00.000+01:00

How cool that you have these photos posted! I can just imagine you talking to the screen of the nestbox cam, encouraging her... :)