JJ's Photographic nature blog

I think it was 2011 when the blue-tits nested successfully in the garden. Then again in 2012; since then, and despite installing a nest-box camera in 2015, they have got no further than regularly checking out the box. This year however, the waiting came good, and they were spotted taking a real interest on March 23rd. And so at last, I am able to blog about their progress and hopefully we will all get to learn just a little bit more about these special birds.

There are a couple of things to say before I start this diary in earnest. Firstly, I upgraded the nest-box camera to a colour and night-vision type, with a good deal of naivety over just how difficult it is to get enough light into a nest-box for colour reproduction. I cannot let it concern me now that they are nesting though; perhaps, if this is successful, I may look into it for next spring. Even then, it isn't gonna be a 'Springwatch' style event, and to have a live web-cam seems quite a complicated thing to consider. The main problem with this particular camera seems to be that the night-vision is on during daytime filming too, and that tends to washout the colour.

Then there are the videos themselves. I would be the first to say that I am no cinematographer. I am trying to learn a few tricks but need to learn to walk first! I did harbour thoughts of maybe 'cutting and shutting' all of the videos into one long one, but soon gave up on that idea, and so what you get instead are lots of short clips.

I guess I should have also mentioned that I have no way of recording directly from the screen at present, and so these videos are all recorded by holding my point and shoot camera, or sometimes phone, in front of the monitor.

Oh! One more thing: these videos don't display too well in the emailed version of this update (phone version) you really need to view the web version (scroll to bottom of post on phone and hit 'View web version').

Here we go then: this is the very first time they actually got brave enough to look inside the nest-box...

      



And then on the 24th March the female (I think) enters and positions herself in one corner and begins calling to the male, who eventually joins her, and then they both promptly leave...

     



There was a small amount of bedding added and lots of pecking and wing fluttering going on during these early visits...

      

On March 25th I decided to risk changing the camera. The old one was not really a nest-box camera at all, but a CCTV unit which had a really poor coverage area. It was also black and white with no night vision...

 The blue-tits didn't seem to notice the change and carried on with the same routine of slowly adding nesting material whilst pecking and scratching at the box. As this first clip (of disappointing quality) with the new camera shows; there was lots of nervous tension, head twitching etc. This has had the speed increased by the way, just in case you thought your eyes were deceiving you...

                                 
     





March 26th: And the interior had filled up quite a bit with nesting material, mostly moss at this stage. The behaviour pattern remained the same. This again is at x16 speed...

      




March 29th: I spotted the female removing material, as well as bringing fresh...

     
      


Thursday March 30th: Lots of morning visits, mostly removing nesting material. Whilst the female was inside the box, the male was positioned on the roof of my studio, standing tall like a meerkat on sentry duty. I am sure he was scouting for danger...

By 2pm on the last day of March, around 70% of the bedding had been removed. It wasn't until April 2nd that I noticed fresh nest-material being added again. The first week of April saw no real changes, they continued to add bedding, usually starting anywhere between 7 and 8am. Then on the 9th I saw that the female was now bringing feathers to add to the nest.


     



Most were white and seemed way too large for blue-tit feathers, and so I have been wondering where she found so many, and who the donor might have been.

At 8pm on April 9th the female settled in to spend her first full night in the box...

      



She was gone before 6.30am the next morning but has returned every night since; usually at around 7.30 to 7.45pm. There seemed to be a lot of shaking and shivering taking place before she settled each night.

      


Thursday April 13th: Once again, the nest-box was vacant by early morning. The male had ceased visiting long ago by the way, and left the female to build most of the nest alone. I haven't seen any eggs yet but tonight at 7.30 when she returned for the night, she seemed even more edgy and unable to settle. Pecking at her own chest, perhaps preparing a brooding patch?

Friday April 14th: At last! One tiny egg to be seen (just) when I checked the box at 6am...

April 15th: The now usual routine of vacating the box early morning. It seems strange to me that although the egg(s) are covered by feathers, they are left alone all day in the nest.

April 17th: 12.10pm: The female arrived with yet more feathers to add to her nest. The male then appeared and fed the female whilst inside the nest-box. Both then left within a few seconds.

      


5.10pm: The female returns and as soon as she sits on the nest, the male appears and feeds her and they are both gone again; all within 20 seconds. But at 7.10pm she returns alone to spend another night.



Tuesday April 18th: There are now six small eggs in the nest...

And that just about brings us up to date. I will update just as soon as there is news of any chicks, or anything else exciting happens.