Bird Box Diary 2003

The box has been lying dormant since the last chick fledged last June and was emptied and cleaned out in November.

This is not a very clear picture of the bluetit at the entrance hole this morning.  She perched here at 7.20 and made several calls.  After she had left, I recorded this sound that was like a rattle snake!  I assume it was her alarm call?  Maybe there was a cat on the patio? You can hear both calls by clicking on the links below. First call                                 Second call

Friday, 7th February, 2003

My rooster has been arriving every evening at around 5.15p.m. and leaving in the morning at 7.30.  This morning, there was a great deal of calling from outside and she/he was peering out from 7.10.  Eventually, it left at 7.20 and the morning calls were increasing outside.  It's very mild at present (8.5°C and 7.50a.m.)
On Tuesday, I decided to move the position of the camera.  The main reason was that I was never able to see much when a bird was up at the entrance hole. (See picture for last Friday.)  After several adjustments, I have got it as far as I can without missing any of the floor.  I think I need to redesign the box for next year with a higher ceiling to get more of the action.  I have been pleased to see that the occupant is now returning during the day to remove their droppings.  For the first few days, they were left.  Maybe they were to 'mark' the box as occupied?

Shortly after my 'rooster' left, this bird arrived.  I am not sure if it is the same bird or not.  I have not been able to get a clear head-shot of it, yet.  This looks to me like a male tit.  Any comments would be welcomed.

Saturday, 15th February, 2003
The Jury is still out as to the sex of my 'rooster'.  I get the impression that it is a female. On Tuesday of this week, I managed to put my back out yet again and have spent the last four days confined to bed on some powerful drugs.  During this time, I was able to watch the comings and goings to/from the box as well as minor skirmishes in the hawthorn tree outside the bedroom window.
It appears that there are two pairs who are competing for the box.  I have seen various chases occurring outside.  I have also seen at least two different birds enter the box.  It was frustrating not being able to see the inside of the box as well.  There were also attacks by the bluetits to repel some sparrows that showed rather too much interest and I was surprised at how ferocious the little bluetits can be in chasing off the intruders.  They were seen to be tumbling in the air towards the ground turning, gyrating and attacking as they fell.
I was able to see all four of my prospective occupants at reasonably close distance but could not see any noticeable difference in any of them.  I managed to hobble to the study this morning and saw my little resident asleep.  She left at 7.04 and later returned to remove the droppings.

Wednesday, 26th February, 2003 This week I saw two birds in the nestbox at the same time.  I have edited a video sequence of one bird in the box; the second arrived; they circled each other and then the first escaped.  The remaining bird jumped up to the entrance to make sure that it had gone, I expect. It is 264k, lasts 8 seconds and is an avi file.

Thursday, 27th March, 2003 When I checked the box at around noon today, I realised that there was no sound!  The female BT has been attacking the camera area for some time and I was concerned that she may have dislodged a wire.  I was obliged to remove the lid and replace a temporary substitute while I checked the camera in the lid by passing it through the window of our bedroom. Sure enough, she had snapped the wire connecting the microphone.  As you can see in the picture, the black wire should be soldered next to the red one.  I managed to solder it back on and replace the lid to the box in under an hour.

This picture shows the lid with a piece of a plastic milk bottle cut to cover the 6 LEDs.  This acts as a diffuser as there is quite a hot-spot.  The microphone was hidden behind this but she obviously took a dislike to the colour, I assume.  I had a similar problem last year when the resident objected to the shiny duct tape that I had used to secure the camera. It is now three hours later and I have not yet seen her come back.  I hope I haven't disturbed her too much!

Wednesday, 2nd April 2003 The box is beginning to show signs of nest-building.  This morning, I have watched as more material was brought into the box and 'shuffled' to compact it towards the sides. The picture shows it at noon today.

Saturday, 5th April 2003 There has been some frenzied action over the last two days.  It began yesterday when there were repeated visits by the female with huge beakfuls of nesting material. She left the nest before 6.30 this morning but was back before seven with the first new load.  Since then, she has been pretty busy. You can see the difference between the two pictures from Wednesday and today, by comparing the base of the nest.  You can no longer see the bottom. I have been trying to follow where she goes to get the moss.  Generally, she flies out of the box, banks to the starboard and heads towards the front of the house. This is in spite of my efforts to help out by putting several handfuls of scarified lawn moss in the bushes and trees in the garden! There is a short video linked to the top picture (with a "V" in the corner)  It is 400k and lasts 11 seconds.

Monday, 7th April 2003 There continues to be more material being brought into the box.  If you pass your mouse over the picture on the right, you will see the difference between an empty box and how it appears now.  The nest cup is beginning to get formed and it appears that the moss is quite well compacted as the BT is able to stand on it without sinking.  I would estimate that the nest is at least 3 inches deep.

Tuesday, 15th April 2003 There has been very little change during the last week or so.  The nest now looks like the picture on the left which shows it at noon today.  I can see feathers in the nest and I think there is some of my hair.  My 7 year old granddaughter cut my hair on the patio yesterday and we let the hair drift in the wind.  A neighbour has also offered to brush her retriever to collect more soft material for the nest cup which now shows quite clearly. Once again you can roll your mouse over to see the depth of the nest.

Tuesday, 22nd April 2003 I was up by 5.45 this morning and started to capture video on Viv's machine while I checked the email etc on mine.  At 5.59 there were the distinctive sound of regular 'clicks' coming from the BT as she laid the second egg.  She stayed for several minutes after laying and finally left at 6.12 am. She returned at 7.10 when she covered the eggs with some of the nestcup material.  She left again but was back just a minute later to cover them again. This picture shows the moment that she left the nest and is linked to a video of her laying the second egg. You will hear the last 2 or 3 clicks and then she gives a big heave as she lays it.  Next, there is a call from outside the nest that almost sounds like a trilling fanfare! (Video is now an avi file.  It is 536k and lasts for 22 seconds)

Wednesday, 23rd April 2003 I was up by 5.45 again to watch the egg laying.  I have replayed the video several times to try and ascertain the moment the egg was laid.  The video was started at 5.49 and the egg was laid 8 minutes later!  Almost exactly the same as yesterday. She remained in the nest till 6.14 and covered the eggs a little before she left.  I have had to 'clone' part of the image to make the third egg clearer. She returned at 6.55,  7.05 and 7.25 to cover the eggs even more.