Bird
Box Diary 2005
As
regular visitors know, this birdbox was empty all last year. However, a
family of bluetits was successfully reared in the new box that I erected at the
side of the house for sparrows! That box still does not have a camera in
it.
In December, I had an email from a cyber-buddy, (www.beautifulbritain.co.uk) who
also has cameras in boxes, to report that he had a rooster that was coming to one
of his boxes each night. I thought I ought to check my box and was very
pleasantly surprised to find that I, too, had a little visitor.
Since then, I have been watching it each day and live pictures from the box have
been uploaded to the badgercam page each day. The camera switches back to
the badgers every evening at dusk till around 10.00pm or once all the food is
eaten. Here is the first picture of the rooster:- |
Click on this picture for a larger
version |
In the enlarged version, you can see
a couple of droppings on the floor of the box. Compare these with the
state of the box in the latest pictures below!
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Friday,
4th February, 2005
This evening, I was watching the monitor to
see the arrival of our rooster, as usual, when it became clear that there were
two birds on the roof. Viv confirmed this, visually, from the lounge.
The rooster entered the box and held
a 'conversation' with the one outside. At one point, I thought it, too,
was coming into the box, as the occupant was watching up at the entrance for some
time. Eventually, the rooster fluffed itself up, put its head under its
wing and settled for the night. The visitor's feet could still be heard on
the roof and it continued to call for a while before departing. This gives
me great hope for a new nest in this box this year.
I am almost ready as I have a new capture card in that computer as well as the
luxury of broadband access, now. I just need to sort out the sound. |
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Sunday,
6th February, 2005
This morning was particularly cold.
There was a frost which is unusual for our region.
Our little rooster seemed very reluctant to leave the box this morning in spite
of the sounds of the dawn chorus from outside. At 0747 GMT, it made an
extremely quick exit as you can see if you watch the video attached to the link
below. It's 243k. It has not been edited or the speed changed.
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Click on picture for enlarged version |
Thursday,
24th February, 2005
There
have been exciting developments in the box over the last few days. I have
seen two birds in the box at the same time. However, the first makes a
quick exit as soon as the second arrives. It would appear that they are an
item!
The new visitor has been making frequent visits to the box during the day to
remove the droppings. You can see the difference in the two pictures
below. Click on them to get larger versions. The first was taken a
few days ago and the other today after the clean-up. It would appear that
our rooster's days in his bachelor pad are numbered! However it is a good
omen for a family to be raised in the box, this year!
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Dirty box |
Clean box |
Saturday,
26th February, 2005
Yesterday,
the rooster arrived before 5.30 to enter the box for the night. Another bird was
heard to land on the roof. The first adopted a crouching position and
extended its wings whilst making a hissing noise. I have heard this before
a couple of years ago when another bird attempted to enter the box. You
can see a short video (17 seconds) if you click the video link below. It's
980k.
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Thursday,3rd March, 2005
Last
evening I noticed that there appeared to be more detritus inside the
box. I would guess that the female has brought in some moss to
test the box? Just a theory; but it certainly looks like moss to
me. Today, I have been watching as often as possible in the
hope of seeing her come in with some more and doing some 'shuffles'.
No luck, yet! Click the picture for a larger version. |
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Thursday,10th March, 2005
Yesterday,
whilst working on my computer, I heard a visitor land on the roof of the
birdbox so I started to record the action. The female entered with
two tiny pieces of nesting material which she dropped randomly.
She then looked around and left. She almost dragged a large piece
of straw with her but it fell back into the box. The picture shows
her with the stuff in her beak. If you click on the image, it will
start a short video of the event. It 410k and lasts 8 seconds. |
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Tuesday,22nd March, 2005
For
the last few days, we have been seeing various combinations of
visitors to the nestbox. The fact that there have been so many
leads us to believe that no 'partner' has been selected, yet.
Yesterday, we had a serious inspection by a prospective 'buyer' who
appeared to be concerned about our presence! You can see from
the picture that she wanted to see what you are up to! There
is a larger version attached and a short video (898k and 26 seconds)
linked to the icon. |
Today,
we have seen our first 'shuffles'. I always assumed that it
was the female that performed this but today it looked as if it was
the male since he made a rapid exit when another bird entered and
had a look around. She appears to go to each wall in turn and almost
lean on one or two. Her tail just touches the rear wall as if
to be measuring for carpets!
In the past, it has always seemed that the male would enter the box
and then call to a mate to come and look around. You can see
from the picture that it appears to be measuring the width (Never
mind the quality!) There is a large version attached and a
video of the event.
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More moss added.
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Tuesday,29th March, 2005
Looking
at the box today, it is clear that a good deal more moss has been
added. We have our granddaughter with us at present so we tend to
spend a great deal of time out and about; usually in the swimming pool
(her, not us!) This has meant that I have not been able to watch the
progress.
There is certainly more 'territorial' behaviour evident in the
garden. One bluetit has been seeing off all comers. That was
until about 12.45 this afternoon!!
While we were eating our lunch in the dining room, I saw the local male
sparrow hawk coming low along the hedge in the field behind our
house. Luckily, the birds saw him too. He landed in the end of
the hawthorn hedge and appeared to be waiting for an unwary visitor.
Since nothing presented itself, he delved into the bush where we had seen
LBJs dive for cover; presumably to try and flush them out. At this
point, I went to get a video camera but he was off before I could say
"Action!". |
Wednesday,
13th April, 2005
I hadn't
realised that it was so long since an update. Towards the end of
last week, we had some pretty miserable weather and very little progress
in the nest box. However, since Saturday, the weather has picked up
and we have had a few really warm, sunny days. This had meant far
more activity and nest building. You can see the difference in the
picture on the right compared to the one above. You can also see, by the
depth of the nest by the way it fills more of the screen. The nest
cup looks as if it will be just left and low of center.
A bird has continued to roost in the box each night but I think it may now
be the female. I noticed that the normal routine of arriving,
settling and sleeping seemed different. She (?) also does not settle
to sleep in the same place in the box as the previous rooster. |
Click on the picture for a larger version |
Here
is a video that shows her arranging the nest, shuffling and then settling for
the night by tucking her head under her wing to sleep. You will see that
she is facing the opposite direction to the 'normal' rooster. The video
lasts just over one minute and is under one megabyte in size. Click on the
icon.
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Saturday
Sunday
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Sunday, 17th April, 2005
We
have had some mixed weather over the last few days. Yesterday was
glorious and so there was considerable progress with the nest building.
Thursday and Friday were cold and grey so little was added. There are two
pictures of the inside of the nest box. The first was taken
yesterday evening and the second this morning. There was quite a
difference in the amount of lining material brought in.
Today is dire! It is cold (6°C), wet and windy so I don't expect to
see much progress today. The forecast for next week, however, is
much better.
I have seen the male feed the female on two occasions in the last few days
but missed getting any video on both occasions.
I have also ordered a kilo of mealworms from Live
Foods Direct so that the new occupants get used to finding them by the
time the chicks hatch. (Whoops! Not supposed to count, yet!)
Larger pictures are available if you click on the small ones.
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Monday, 18th April, 2005
We
have had a much nicer day today. Yesterday was a washout. It
rained from dawn till early this morning. Consequently, there has
been much more 'action' in the box today. The female left at 0626
but spent over a minute deciding whether it was still too wet to leave.
I saw her enter the box again at 0715 with some nesting material and, over
the next 30 minutes, she made a further 8 visits. On one occasion,
she came in to discover the male inside. Without wishing to be too
anthropomorphic, she appeared to tell him, in no uncertain terms, to
"Get the hell out!" Like many good men, he did as he was
told.
Later, at 0816, he came in again but this time was carrying a grub.
I assumed this was a 'peace offering!' (Whoops! I'm doing it
again!) Anyway, he made a terrific fuss and called to his mate that
breakfast was ready (I must stop this!) When she came to receive her
prize, he upped and left with it for himself. Typical!
She stayed to do some rearranging of the nest and appeared to try the
nest-cup for size.
The picture shows the male waiting with the grub. There is a larger
version if you click on it and a video of the whole episode if you click
on the camera icon,
It's under one megabyte and lasts for 40 seconds. |
The male with a grub.
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Saturday, 23rd
April, 2005
It
has been a very mixed week as far a the weather is concerned. We
have had beautiful, Spring-like, sunny days followed by one of rain for
most of the day. This has meant that progress in the nest has been
spasmodic!.
I received my new supply of mealworms on Tuesday and have been putting a
few fresh ones out each morning. The ones from the day before are
allowed their freedom but, usually, one of the robins devours them before
the make it to the fence!
I have not seen any bluetits going near them, yet. It took several
days to work out what they were and how to get to them last time I used
them. That's a few years ago, now.
During the week, I set up my other video camera to get shots of a BT
arriving at the box. The inside was being recorded by my computer so
I was able to edit together this little sequence of the female bringing
what appears to be some horse hair.
Click on the picture for a larger version and the video camera to view the
video. It's under 2 megs and lasts for 20 seconds.
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Monday, 25th
April, 2005
I
was quite convinced that there would be a the first egg laid this
morning. I had set the scheduled recording to begin at 0500.
As it happened, I woke at 0515 and was at the computer before 0530
watching for the tell-tale movements of the contractions.
I could see that she was still quite unsettled and very restless so I
watched...and watched.. and.. nothing!
All this time, I could hear the male from the hawthorn tree outside
calling loudly as if to make an announcement or was it
encouragement? I was very deflated when she made her exit at 0620 to
reveal an empty nest cup. Maybe tomorrow. Better get an early
night! |
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Tuesday, 26th
April, 2005
It
looks as if yesterday was a dress-rehearsal. The first egg was laid this
morning at almost exactly 5.45. Luckily, I was up to see it as I had set the
scheduled recording to record at 30 fps which may have caused problems.
Her contractions began just a couple of minutes before the egg was laid.
The first sign was that he breathing increased and she adopted the crouched,
almost brooding position. She had been very restless for some time before
this and responded to the calls from the male in the hawthorn. She had a
couple of scary moments when something(?) landed on the roof of the bird box and
she made her warning 'screech'.
After laying, she stayed in the nest cup to recover for about 90 seconds and
then began preening. After about 3 minutes, she stretched up to peep out
of the hole. Her mate was still calling from the tree. She continued
to preen; check the egg or rest for the next 8 minutes. One minute later,
with very little fuss, she was off. She returned at around 7.30 but only
stayed long enough to pull some nest material over the egg.
Below are some stills from the video. Each picture is linked to a larger
version and a video is linked where shown by the camera icon.
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Video of the actual laying.
2megs; 88 seconds
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Stretching up to look out of the hole
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Video of the female leaving
2 megs: 14 seconds
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