HAVE THE BLUE TIT EGGS HATCHED?

Recent weather has been favourable for the bird trying to raise young this spring, albeit with quite cold nights.

The great tits have been busily feeding many hungry mouths in one section of the triple nest box, while the blue tits have been incubating their clutch of eight eggs.

And just two days ago they hatched, although the exact number of hatchlings is yet to be determined because of issues with the camera.

There are a number of house sparrow nests nearby, but it doesn’t appear that they are using any of the nest boxes in the garden.

They have all been receiving regular supplies of mealworms, which have attracted other great tits, house sparrows, robins, magpies, and the recently returning blackbirds.

A pair of blackbirds has been seen recently in the garden, taking a number of grubs, worms and mealworms off to feed their youngsters.

The garden is literally coming alive with spring life, including the first crane flies of the year and hundreds of flies and bugs.

It’s a great place to be in the spring and summer, watching the wildlife make the most out of the weather and being totally focussed on the breeding season.

Long may it continue and also long may the camera keep working so we can see the young blue tit chicks growing.

COLD SNAP BROUGHT THREAT TO EGGS AND CHICKS

Just when spring was warming up and the local birds had got the green light for laying eggs…

The recent cold snap forced the wildlife to seek warmth and shelter from bitter northerly wind and frequent hail showers.

The swallows had been basking in mild spring sunshine last week, producing aerobatic manoeuvres in order to find a mate, but now are only daring to take to the skies when the sun has spent time warming the air around the house and garden.

Among the birds that are seemingly on eggs or have chicks are the robins, blackbirds and magpies.

The goldfinches are still flirting around in pairs, while the house sparrows are still flying around in groups. Hopefully this weekend will be able to provide evidence of whether the latter are utilising the triple next box.

However, the blue tits have laid eight eggs in the original nest box with the camera, although the eggs were not being incubated by either parent in the time spent looking at the nest for a while. 

But, now the eggs are rarely seen because of the incubating adults.

This weekend saw a return to more favourable spring weather and has hopefully given the wildlife the opportunity to carry on with their breeding seasons.

BREEDING SEASON IS WELL UNDERWAY

The local population of birds are seemingly all paired up now, with many having started selecting a nest site and commenced building work.

There is a pair of goldfinches spending quite a lot of time around the garden, which is unusual because they tend to spend spring and summer down the lanes.

It may mean that this pair has found a suitable nest site in one of the nearby tress, although it may take a while to find out which one.

The triple nest box has had some interest from the local house sparrow population, although whether any nest building has started is not certain.

What is certain is the blue tits in the original nest box with a camera are quite fair one with preparation for the breeding season.

And it appears that egg laying may be soon to begin. One of the birds is now spending the night on the nest, which is a new development in the last couple of days.

The signal isn’t the best on the camera due to interference from the wifi, but sometimes it gives pretty clear images – if you’re patient!

The blackbirds and robins are not visiting the garden as much, which makes me think one of the birds is on eggs somewhere nearby.

Finally, the first order of mealworms has been made, so we’ll soon see which birds have young!

THE RETURN OF THE SWALLOWS

Previous dates of the first swallow sighted:

2016 – 10/04

2015 – 21/04

2014 – 19/04

This year it was two days earlier than last year, the 08^th April, and they couldn’t have picked a better weekend to return – blue skies and temperatures of 20c.

With the continuous sounds of chiffchaffs, blue tits, great tits, robins and blackbirds reverberating around the countryside near the garden, one quick burst of a swallow song suddenly emerged.

And there on a telegraph wire, well where else…, was the single swallow announcing his/her arrival.

With cooler temperatures expected for the next week (and typically Easter Bank Holiday) the first swallows to arrive back for the breeding season are unlikely to be in a sudden rush to build a nest.

Talking of nests, the blue tit one is looking almost complete, with both male and female birds taking turns to go in the nest box and create what is hoped to be a place to lay the eggs to hatch the next generation.

There appears to be feathers and hair discarded by the local horses now being brought in to line the nest; being carefully woven in to the dried grass and moss that is already there.

Moss is also being used for some of the other nest boxes, just not the other camera nest box.

It appears at least one of the triple next box is being used, but the next box with the other camera in is still being ignored.

The warm weather over the weekend has meant the wildlife in and around the garden is emerging from every nook and cranny that it’s been hiding away for the winter in.

Spring is most definitely here and the wildlife knows it.

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NESTING ACTION IS FINALLY STARTING

Just a week after expressing worries about the nesting season, and one of the nest box cameras revealed the start of a nest!

Unsurprisingly it’s the nest box that has seen a nest every year since it was introduced in 2008.

As yet the identity of the birds building the nest is unknown, but judging by previous nests the suspicion is it is a pair of blue tits.

The nest camera will be getting plenty of views over the coming days to try and put a name to the nest builders.

The other nest box camera, which is part of a three section nest box set up, has not seen any nesting action, and it’s likely that once again the other two sections of the nest box will be used for nesting.

It does seem as if spring has literally sprung into life in the last few days, and the wildlife around the garden has responded accordingly.

Bees are buzzing around the garden, taking drinks of nectar from the growing number of flowers in bloom, while the dawn chorus is in full flow – some days it acts as an alarm clock.

Spiders are busy constructing webs, hoping to trap the increasing number of flying insects, while the insect eating birds are hoping to capture some of them to feed up before the nests are completed and eggs laid.

It’ll hopefully be then that the caterpillar bonanza will occur and the newly hatched chicks will benefit.

NESTING ACTION IS LIMITED

The garden has seen very little in the way of nesting behaviour so far, although some signs of courtship among the local bird population has been noted.

Near to the garden numerous magpies are collecting sticks for nesting, while some have even almost completed nests.

However the nest boxes have seen absolutely nothing, which is unusual because in previous years, at least one nest box would have already been taken – indeed in some years they’re taken in January.

The weather is certainly becoming cooler again and while numerous blue and great tits have been seen to inspect the emerging bulbs on trees and bushes, it may be that it’s not quite right to start building a nest yet.

It’s not a convincing theory, but one this garden is hoping is true, otherwise it’ll be the first year no nests have been recorded here in a decade.

Are the cats, who are continuing to use the garden as a toilet, to blame? If so then action will be taken to combat this trend.

Locally the smaller trees are slowly starting to turn green and bring some colour to the area, while the birds are always excited when the bird feeders in the trees are filled up.

Indeed they are on the feeders within seconds of them being hung up again, full of peanuts and seeds.

SPRING IS IN THE AIR

A couple of weeks ago it was all about winter storms, now spring is very much in the air.

Birds are singing, blossom is blowing wistfully in the light breeze and the sun is being supporting by warm winds to bring a little bit of heat to the land.

The daffodils are one of many plants providing colour to the garden. 

Unfortunately it hasn’t led to any activity in either of the nest boxes with cameras in, which probably means that neither will be used this year.

Of course it might mean that the birds know of a forthcoming blast of winter is around the corner and don’t want to jump the gun on the breeding season – it’s not something many people will be betting on though!

The cats are seemingly waging war on one of the garden’s borders, despite an influx of plants and shrubs.

Just today, a week after the last ‘collection’, another six ‘deposits’ had to be removed, before young fingers got hold of them.

There will only be one winner, and it won’t be the cats, but it looks like there will be many battles ahead before they are defeated.

I do wonder if the cats are making the birds nervous about nesting near the house and it’s something that is very disappointing if true.

Cat owners need to do everything they can to stop their pets killing and negatively affecting local wildlife. It is NOT the way of nature for domestic cats to ravage local populations of small wildlife.

Humans putting too many cats in a small area can be negative for the cats as well as the wildlife, so if any cat owners read this, please take note.

Now it’s time to cross those fingers that the cats stop leaving poo in the garden and the birds start the process of nest building.