THE ANNUAL NEST BOX CLEAN OUT

It’s the time of year when the seven nest boxes in the garden are cleaned in preparation for any winter roosting, and ahead of the breeding season next year.

This exercise also gives an opportunity to see exactly what has been constructed, in which nest boxes (only two have cameras) and what evidence can be found to suggest which birds occupied them.

As per usual the original nest box was occupied by blue tits (because they were seen fledging), and no leftover eggs or chicks were found, meaning all eggs successfully hatched and all chicks fledged.

In the other three single nest boxes, there hadn’t been any nesting carried out. Two are open fronted and are located in now dense honeysuckle and ivy.

The other has a camera and this has seemingly put any birds off nesting in there this year – however it’s the first year it was up so fingers crossed for 2018.

In the triple next box, all sections had nests. One was definitely used by house sparrows, however the other two had similar nests, but one more clue was a bit puzzling.

Two of the nests each had one egg, which appear to be blue tit eggs, as you can see below.

This leads to three potential theories.

1 – The house sparrows only occupied one box and blue tits nested in the other two – presumably after the house sparrows

2 – Blue tits nested on one box, laid an egg were put off by the house sparrows so moved next door, laid an egg, but moved out because of the house sparrows

3 – The blue tits nested after the house sparrows left, and either successfully fledged (with one egg being dud in each box) or parent(s) were killed by local cats/birds of prey

However, we’ll never know and can only hope that we’ll get to see some of this year’s fledglings back in the garden next year.

BIRDS A RARITY IN THE GARDEN

The nest boxes are empty and the garden is virtually free of birds, apart from the odd visit from fledglings and swooping swallows. 

One question that remains unanswered is whether the house sparrows have taken up residence in the blue tit nest box – which fledged eight chicks from eight eggs.

The camera to the nest box isn’t working properly again, so a view inside is proving difficult.

If the female is on eggs then it’ll be hard to tell as they normally are quite still most of the time.

It is likely to be another week before it is known if they are in there.

The garden itself had a good soaking of water for a while, but now it looks like a prolonged dry spell is on the cards, which means the new hosepipe will see some action!

All the plants, tomato, sunflower, broad bean and peppers are now in situ, and growing fast. If they get enough water then the tomatoes can hopefully make up for the poor harvest last year with a bumper one this year.
After all the sunflowers did very well last year and now, thanks to the slugs and snails, they’re likely to be fewer and shorter than 2016.

A SAD END TO THE NESTBOX BREEDING SEASON

A week of mixed emotions for the wildlife in my garden, with nature showing its cruel and kind sides.

The house sparrow family in the new triple nestbox successfully fledged earlier this week, after much encouragement from the adults.

I don’t know the exact number of chicks but it was at least three, possibly four, so a good level of fledglings from the nest.

The pleasing thing is this nestbox was only put up in March, so it shows the poor weather in early spring must have delayed the nesting instincts and hence why the box looked so good once those instincts kicked in again.

The cruel side of nature showed itself on my camera nestbox, as the third brood of the year failed.

It had two house sparrow eggs, not three as previously thought, and one hatched on the same day the other house sparrows fledged from the other nest.

The chick was being fed and brooded by the female as she tried to hatch the other egg. After just three days of life I saw the chick wasn’t moving yesterday morning (see below image) and wondered if it was just resting.

 

My fears increased when I couldn’t see or hear the parent birds and by the evening I realised the chick had died and the other egg had failed.

I could see flies on the chick so decided to remove the nest from the nestbox and clear it out. The fascinating thing was seeing how the house sparrow nest was built on top of the blue tit nest, but just looked like it was one nest.

 

 

 

 

The camera nestbox is now empty and it’s sad to see after such a good spring and summer for breeding.

 

Overall I’m pleased that two birds have used it for the first time in the same year and they both managed to fledge youngsters.

Speaking of which there has been lots of young blue and great tits visiting the garden in the last few days. I’m hoping some will have been raised in the camera nestbox, and that their parents, or even one of them, will return to it next spring and raise another generation of tits.

HOUSE SPARROWS MOVING ABODE?

The end of this week was a washout, but far from it being the norm – as per 2012 – it seems to be just a blip in the summer proceedings.

The house sparrow chicks in the camera nestbox are almost ready to go and I suspect they could have even gone by the time this post is uploaded, or you have read it.

I can count just the two chicks, although the noise they make does suggest many more should be inside there. You try counting them in the best of the early images below!

It’s hard to make out the chicks on some days because the nesting material, which is very high in the nestbox due to it being on the blue tit’s nest, often obscures the view as the parents often knock things as they enter the nestbox with food.

Luckily the last day or so has presented us with a clearer view and the chicks are very noticeably house sparrows with the feathers patterns easy to determine, even in black and white as the latest image shows – you can clearly see the two chicks

 

I was surprised by this new nest in my garden, as it was the first time house sparrows had nested here, but it appears that it might not be the only pair nesting in my garden this summer.

Early one morning I noticed that a pair of house sparrows were flying to and from the new terraced nestbox I’d put up in early spring.

On closer inspection they were both gathering nesting material and seem to be building a new nest, which is a little strange considering it’s nearly July.

I’ll be taking a closer look later this weekend to see if they’re still building or if the wet weather has hampered them.

The good news is this should mean next year the triple nestbox should be occupied, at least one of the ‘homes’ anyway.

In other news the blue tits and great tits have started to be seen a little more, with the robins, dunnocks and blackbirds not showing at all.

The great spotted woodpecker male has been seen again and is devouring the fat snack I’ve put up; I wonder if he’s still got young and is struggling to find more natural food.

One thing I did witness was a young swallow being chased by a small bird of prey, which I presume was a hobby.

The swallow seemed to get away by diving into a hedge just behind my house, although I only saw the battle for a few seconds and couldn’t then see what happened afterwards.

Obviously I don’t like seeing the swallows being predated, but with so many in the skies this summer it’s good to know last year’s drop in fledglings has hopefully been evened out by a larger than normal amount this year.

My nest plan is to find out if hedghogs are living around my garden and if not, contact a couple of rescue centres to provide a home for them. Updates soon.

THE SAD RESULTS OF APRIL WEATHER

Despite the weather turning in to summer after a cold and wet six weeks, it has led to a rather sad ending to my nestbox camera story.

The images below aren't the easiest to view but it reflects what happens in nature every day, month and year.

I had noticed that the great tits were not around very much for the last week or so, despite me recently seeing one of the parents going in to the nestbox with a caterpillar in beak.

After hearing the story of a friend who had watched from their nestbox camera as eight great tit chicks straved to death during April and early May, I resolved to check the nestbox after watching for parental activity over the weekend.

With little or no great tit activity anywhere near the nestbox, I opened it up and found the eight tiny fledglings hadn't made it passed a couple of days old.

The unusually cool and wet weather had obviously led to a lack of relevant food for the chicks and their sad demise. I presume this has happened to many great tit and other small bird families across the UK, which makes me wonder if this breeding season will be a poor one.

In positive news I've noticed a blue tit nest in a tiny crevice in the wall of a small disused building at the back of our house. The crevice is so tight the parents have to literally squeeze out each time they have fed their chicks.

I think they'll fledge in the next week as they're very vocal when the parents bring food.

The robins have not been seen for a while, which makes me think the chicks are all out and the family has gone off to explore the countryside.

Activity has been frantic from the house and tree sparrows, as they spend lots of time in the rose hedge and the garden borders. I'm still unsure where they're nesting, but it must be close.

The blackbirds are still around and this week have been dominating the airwaves, especially at dusk, as the males use prominent spots like telegraph poles to littering the wind with lovely song.

It certainly makes a change from the constant chiffchaff tunes during the day.

Finally an unusual visitor came to the garden this week, a great spotted woodpecker, although he didn't stay around too long. Perhaps he'll be back.

More news this weekend.

ARE THE GREAT TIT CHICKS OK?

I'm very concerned for the health of the great tit chicks in my nestbox as I've not really seen or heard the parents in the garden recently.

They have been around, but not as often as in previous years when feeding growing youngsters. I fear a combination of the cool conditions and a lack of food has badly affected the chicks.

I've heard of a friend's nestbox with great tits in that all eight chicks died, mainly as a result of lack of food. This meant the parents were then bringing in the wrong type of food and the chicks starving.

I'm sure all types of wildlife have been bewildered by the weather in April and May, especially after the lovely sunny and warm conditions in March.

There does seem to be a hint of better conditions next week, but is this too late to save the inevitable population crash of many smalls birds and of course other birds that rely on naive fledglings to feed their own hungry youngsters.

Only time will tell, but I'll be checking my nestbox this weekend and hoping for some good news.

In light of the cold weather I've put peanuts out again and fat snacks, but only until it warms up, then the mealworms will be back on the menu.

Perhaps I should have bought mealworms earlier, but it would have been quite expensive to provide all the birds with enough over the recent weeks.

Today I had the canny magpies and crows visiting, after they spotted I'd left an opened back of peanuts in the garden.

The crows were dominant, but even they were scared of the tub holding the fat snacks which the peanuts were on. It was very amusing watching them dart to get the peanuts, but close their eyes in panic at being near the tub.

In positive news I did see a robin chick in the garden this week, although only one and I've not seen it since.

The swallows are still about, but I think they've delayed nesting until enough flying insects are about to feed their youngsters.

This weekend could be pivotal to how wildlife is able to bring new life in to this world and survive.

Let's hope the weather is helpful and gives them all a chance.

FEATHERED FRIENDS

Another day for the eight great tit chicks has seen them start to show their feathers.

At just five days old I'm amazed at how much they grow in 24 hours. The parents constant feeding is obviously working well as all the chicks seem to be progressing well.

I won't get much chance to see them until the weekend but will have morning and evening images from tomorrow of them.

A new delivery of mealworms arrived today, just in time as the previous supply will run out tomorrow.

As you can see from the picture the chicks are already becoming greedy and wanting food every second of daylight hours.

The garden has benefited from some heavy rain showers this week, the pond in particular is reaping the rewards. The frog is now officially a pond resident and I caught up with him this evening.

Other wildlife are carrying on the spring task of raising young and I'm expecting to see more fledglings in the garden in the next few days. I think the robin chicks must be near to leaving the nest.