And now for something completely different; some pictures and videos from my garden nest box camera in north east England. A pair of cute Blue Tits moved in and are currently feeding 9 tiny chicks. I say currently as last year there were 7 however sadly due to lack of suitable food during a wet cold spring they all eventually expired. Hatching is timed for the the abundance of ‘tent caterpillars’ on new leaf growth which is the perfect food for growing chicks. Luckily this year everything’s going well with huge amounts of juicy green caterpillars being brought in by Mum & Dad. Nature is tough and anything could go wrong so fingers crossed and I will post updates. 

Box inspection 17th March 2014, lots of pecking

Have had nest boxes up at least 30yrs, usually home made and always entertaining. The clever camera box was a 50th birthday present from my son and adds a wonderful extra dimension. After watching them fly in and out for so long it’s fascinating to watch what happens inside. The box came with small perspex side windows to increase light and colour for the webcam however the birds weren’t happy with this and only nested after I boarded these up. Possibly this feels more secure against potential crows, magpies, woodpeckers & squirrels – not that I get the latter two. Consequently pictures are a little dim with infra-red in low light giving no colour. Initially these are photos and videos of my television screen, some are via the laptop, I’ll try to improve the technology. It’s easy to set up, I’ll do a full blog on this later. Enjoy the journey 🙂

Here’s two videos from last spring as they show the first stages with the female inspecting the box then starting nest building. She roosts in the box over winter yet still gives it a thorough check every Spring;-

Photos from Spring 2014 up to the first week of hatching;

Nestbuilding begins 25th March 2014, a week earlier than last year

Lots of instinctive wing spreading checking there’s enough space for the chicks

Sleeping Blue Tit fluffed up into a ball

Moss, straw and fine grass 27th March

7.50pm 6th April 2014

After a weekend in the Lakes I returned to see 3 eggs 29th April 2014

And so it begins 29th April

7 eggs 3rd May 2014

Nine eggs 6th May 2014, 2 more than last year

After another weekend away, I noticed movement, midnight 18th May 2014

19th May 2014 they had all hatched over the weekend, now busy feeding

Both parents feeding 23rd May 2014

23rd May a busy day in the nestbox

23rd May all quiet, briefly

There’s still nine chicks doing fine 23rd May

More feeding 23rd May

Kids, there’s always one!

Videos from Spring 2014

Link to Week Two in the Blue Tit Box and the final Week Three – Have they gone yet?