LUCKY SEVEN?

For the fourth day in a row another egg was laid in the great tits' nest, bringing the total to seven. I'm not expecting any more although I thought she would stop at five!

The activity is still following a pattern of the female doing the incubating and calling to the male for confirmation she can leave the nest safely to feed.

The eggs are often left for up to an hour, and although I was worried at first, I'm starting to trust their parenting skills and feel a bit more relaxed about the eggs uncovered for a short time.

I'm starting to put mealworms out for the parents and the first small batch was consumed by all manner of birds, who all swooped in to get their portion; either for themselves or their chicks.

I suspect the robins and blackbirds fed their chicks, while the blue and great tits fed themselves.

Images of the birds and other wildlife will be available in posts over the weekend as I make the most of an extended Easter holiday.

The only difference this year is not all my eggs are made of chocolate.

SIX NOT OUT

I mean six eggs with no chicks out yet.

The sixth egg appeared this morning and as I've not been able to get a clear picture of the eggs tonight I'm unsure as to how many there are now.

I've noticed the parent great tits are leaving the eggs alone for quite a long time, sometimes over an hour, but I guess time will tell if this is normal behaviour or first time parents unsure of what they're doing - a bit like Sarah and I, well more me than Sarah if I'm honest.

As I look at the female now covering and warming the eggs I hope the work and effort she and her partner have put into these eggs pays off.

Putting a camera into their domain (nestbox) was a risk for me and I'm grateful they've accepted it, even if the view isn't quite how I set it up.

With the Easter holidays upon us I hope to give reflective views on 2011 compared to 2010 and 2009.

I'll also be topping up their diet with mealworms and keeping an eye on which other birds are currently parents.

As Sarah and I enjoy out first spring and summer with our daughter, so I hope to share with our birds the joy of parenthood.

HOW MANY EGGS ARE THERE?

Another day and another egg from the great tit female as she broods the five eggs. As the honorary midwife, I've pencilled in a due date of 1st May, although I won't be helping with the births.

I'm so fascinated by the nestbox camera I'm often sat in the lounge just watching what is happening. This week I'll be mainly updating the nestbox activity, but will have a full round up of the other news over the weekend - when I can see them!

The female is often turning over the eggs to ensure they're incubated all around, a very fussy parent-to-be.

This morning she had left the nest to be with her partner and have a feed, but left her eggs covered with soft down and fur to ensure they kept warm - given this very warm weather at the moment she didn't need much fur.

Tomorrow I'll be comparing how the timings of nest building and egg laying have differed from this year to 2010.

I've looked back on my blog last year and despite being delayed in the Canary Islands by the volcanic ash cloud incident, I'm able to give fairly accurate timings of when things happened.

Below is the five eggs as they were at 7.30pm tonight, after the female briefly left the nest. Will I find more in the morning? Tune in tomorrow night to see!

GREAT TITS BRING EARLY EASTER CHEER

Easter has arrived a little early in the great tit nestbox.

In just 12 days the great tits have transformed the empty bare nestbox into a comfy one-bed dwelling, complete with four eggs! The first picture was taken on 7th April.

The video footage below shows the female great tit with just two eggs this morning and by the evening there was four eggs visible. (See above pic) Will there be anymore in the morning?

I particularly like the way the great tit uses fluff in the nest to cover the eggs and keep them at the right temperature.

It's been a fantastic few weeks of watching the great tit female roost in the nest, then suddenly decide to start building a nest, to then the start of laying her eggs.

Being able to watch the intricate, private life of a wild animal is a brilliant experience and setting up this camera has been well worth the effort and patience.

The blog will continue to monitor the lives of my great tits, along with other animal updates, inlcuding where the blue tits have nested and when the blackbird chicks will appear.

In other exciting news, my first parcel of mealworms has arrived, just in time to feed some soon to be hungry mouths.

NESTBOX UPDATE

The great tit's nest is becoming more and more comfortable and tonight I watched it snuggling down.

I almost thought it was rolling the eggs over, but it would have been the quickest egg laying in history as I had only looked at the nest an hour ago!

The builder of the nest is female, and sightings of the male in the nestbox have not been made, although that's not to say he hasn't been around.

When will there be eggs? I'm hoping next week sometime, but I'll bring daily updates here with new pics and video.



So life continues outside the nestbox and eggciting (sorry couldn't resist) news from the blackbirds next door. They appear to be using the same nest in the same bush as last year and this afternoon I noticed one was 'depositing' an empty egg shell on the other side of the house.

I did notice the blue tits looking at the nestbox today but yet again they've been too late. Maybe they'll use the nestbox they've been roosting in or even the hole in the wall next door.

I'm hoping to spend a bit of time in the garden this weekend, and will feedback any news on all the birds.

I'll obviously be focusing on the great tits, blut tits and blackbirds, but will be casting an eye for the swallows, goldfinches, tree sparrows and the male pheasant.

An order for mealworms will also be placed so I'm hoping to find out exactly who has chicks next week.

EGGS AT EASTER?

March and early April brought some lovely weather that seemed to shake the wildlife into a frenzy of activity.

Not only the animals, but plants and trees have literally blossomed in the last few weeks.

The most exciting development has been the recent nest building activity from the great tit that has been 'renting' my nestbox fitted with a camera.

It's given me a view of life in spring of small birds I never thought I'd see.

After weeks of sleeping alone in the bare nestbox, I thought the great tit (I think it's a male) had a mate it would be sharing the night with.

At dusk a two weeks ago they both hung around a couple of trees often glancing at the nestbox, until the resident great tit entered, called for the other one, then gave up and went to sleep as I watched the other bird fly off.

Last Thursday the nest building started and in the series of pictures taken daily below. you can see how quickly and actively the nest has formed. The intricacy in how it's being built is a joy to simply marvel at.

I'll be continuing to update the nest building on a daily basis and hope to soon bring news of some early Easter eggs!

In other news the pond is showing little activity, while the flora of my garden is producing plenty of new plants from bulbs and I'm hoping to have some images up this weekend.

Other birds are busy nest building and generally getting excited about bringing new families into the world.

Finally the first sighting this year of a swallow came on Sunday, a sight I always remember since my primary school days watching swallows bring up youngsters in the barns we had on the farm I live on Wales.

Friday, 18 March 2011

SPRING SUNSHINE LIGHTS UP MARCH

The glow of spring sunshine is becoming a frequent image when I look out of the car, house or office.

The warmth isn't quite there yet, although in sheltered spots with little wind you can get an idea of what it'll be like in a few weeks. The daffodils are loving it though

But the blossom on some of the trees is a beautiful light pink colour, reflected brilliantly be the low sun.

Birds are obviously getting excited about the arrival of spring, with the dawn chorus a cacophony of sounds claiming territories and demonstrations of masculinity by many of our male feathered friends.

My excitement levels have reached unprecedented levels this week, not because of the sunshine or dawn chorus tunes, but by the emergence of a new TV star in my house!

Two weeks ago I fitted the nestbox, that has been used every year since I put it up, with a tiny camera that feeds live images 24-7 into a channel on my TV.

With four nestboxes I've trusted that the one I've chosen will be used again this year and provide some great shots of a family of great or blue tits growing up.

It still needs adjustment to the focus and wiring route, but it works and, it's what I've waited patiently for since 2007.

I checked it every night for five days, then left it over a weekend. On Sunday night I sneaked a view while Sarah wasn't looking and mush to my amazement, a bird was snuggled up in there!

In the last week I've checked every night and the same looking bird has spent the night in the box, only once giving me a clue to its identity. I think it's a great tit, but will confirm soon.

I want to leave it and get it settled so it knows the nestbox is a safe place to bring up a family, then one day soon it might start building a nest.

In other news the dunnocks are busy flirting with their fluttery wings, while the robins seem to have established which parts of the area they'll be 'owning' this year, after seemingly sharing some parts during the cold, ice and snowy conditions.

The blue tits, blackbirds, chaffinches, goldfinches, tree sparrows, long tailed tits and wrens are all in our garden daily, with frequent visits from a great spotted woodpecker, jays, woodpigeons and the resident cock pheasant.

This weekend I'm making final checks on my nestboxes before keeping my fingers crossed at least three of the four are used.

The pond will also be given a makeover, to help any returning frogs to spawn.

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