Diary 2005 Page Four

Bird Box Diary 2005:-Page Four

Tuesday, 24th May, 2005
We have see a pair of bluetits over-fly the garden and also one feeding in the hawthorn just a few minutes ago. However the news of more failed nests continues. Some have been reported on the birdwatching newsgroup (uk.rec.birdwatching) and some through our Guest Book. Jo Hoad had signed with her sad news. I wrote a "thank you" email to Jo; as I do to everyone who takes the time to leave a message. Jo has replied to say:-

"Hi Dave - think they have all died now. There was no noise yesterday at all and certainly no sightings of birds entering the box. I'm going to take it down tonight to recycle the chicks - as you put it."

Another was from Dave Wright who believes that a neighbour's cat was responsible for his failure. In his returned email today, he has provided more details that the guest book allows. He says:-

I do not believe the neighbour's cat has actually taken any of the BT parents, more frightened them off. Our nesting box is situated in the apex of our garden shed, which, taking into account all the siting criteria, in hind sight, appears to be the best place. What I did not take account of was the "Feed me" chirping from the chicks, which drew the attention of the neighbour's cat when he was on his daily jaunt across the roof of our garden shed. He, in turn, as inquisitive as cats are, decided to investigate this high pitched chirping and was on a number of occasions scared off by my wife (with the hose pipe of course!!).

He goes on to say that he had to explain the details to his 5 year old daughter who wanted to have a burial in the garden of the chicks and nest.
Another was from Lisa who wrote that her nest had also failed. You can read her diary here:-

http://www.nickthesurfer.co.uk/bluetits.htm

To read the entries, or add your own comments, click here:-

http://www.theguestbook.com/sign.php/306275

There were two entries in the private guest book which are of interest. One from Martin who has since replied to my email to say that all 13 chicks have begun to leave the nest just this morning. Although he didn't mention it in his message, he has a web site to promote his bird boxes and cameras. I took a look and was impressed with the black and white CCTV camera with a box. This site no longer exists, I'm afraid.

David's experience with the cat provides me with an opportunity to mention the problem with this domestic predator. The RSPB maintain that cats are responsible for the deaths of 5 million of our garden birds every year. I doubt that this figure will take into account the chicks who die as a result of the loss of one or both parent birds at this time of year.
I have heard of a couple of suggestions for cat owners that may help reduce this terrible statistic. Responsible cat owners, who are also bird lovers, tend to fit a collar with a small bell. The current theory is that cats can learn to stalk with one bell without it sounding. There are two suggestions to prevent this. One is that you fit two small bells and the other is that you have just the one but it weighs at least one kilogram!

I have been busy with my new camera and would like to share some of my latest photos with you. The rook was at Newgale where we often go to eat our lunch. The others were all in our garden. For larger versions, click the picture.