Bird Box Diary 2009

Monday, 6th April
 Last October, having cleaned out the box and replaced it on the wall, I started the capture software to ensure that the camera was working and the positioning was OK.  Within half an hour there was a visitor that decided to take a look around.  That evening, it was roosting in the box and did so until mid February.  Then, one evening, I noticed that there was no rooster and that's how it stayed until 23rd of March when I noticed some moss had been added to the box.  I started the capture software and watched the male enter with something to feed his mate.  She arrived very soon after him and he left, still with the food!
The female stayed and began to peck at one of the windows but was disturbed by the male returning.  She hissed at him but he entered, still with the offering but, once again, left with it still in his beak.
The female continued to 'modify' the window and the entrance and also took a look and a peck at the camera.  Since then nest building has been progressing and more moss added as well as some long strands of grass


       Both bluetits in the box 0n 23rd March.
Click the image for the video.

This picture shows the female with a long piece of straw.  She tried to remove it five or six times before finally deciding to leave it.  She would appear to have taken it away only to return almost immediately with it draped around her.  The video, which is linked to the picture, is an edited version of some of her attempts.  Click the photo to view it. This video was captured yesterday, 5th April.  It's been very wet today so she has added very little new material but that long piece of straw has disappeared!!
Sunday, 12th April
 Last week, we had our granddaughter staying which meant a very busy time for all of us.  Hence the delay in updating the diary.
Nest-building has continued but with a renewed urgency.  The spell of warm, sunny weather has encouraged the local hawthorns and oaks to put on a bit of a spurt.  My little female is still having problems with grass that is too long.  Yesterday morning, the male arrived with an 'offering' which she took before he left.  She then 'shuffled' to compress the nest material into the walls and corners.  It is clear that the nest is getting deeper, now.  Eventually, she tried to remove a long strand without realising that she had managed to wrap it around herself.  It prevented her from even making it to the door!  But, undeterred, she tried again and, after much tugging and pulling, got it out of the door.  The picture shows her with the grass around herself.  (Larger version if you click the picture)

I had a panic last night as she wasn't in the box after dark.  I was concerned that something had happened to her.  I was monitoring the box from 6.30 this morning and it wasn't until after 9.00 that I saw both birds in the box.  It was a huge relief!
I have put some dog fur (from Toby) in a fat-ball feeder and saw a great tit using some today.  I hope my little birds will do the same.



Monday, 13th April
 Last night the female was AWOL again.  It is baffling as I have never seen this before.  In the past, the female has always roosted in the box until the chick have grown too large and fidgety for her. 
This morning, the male was the first into the box with her following a few seconds later and almost landing on him.  She 'hissed' at him to leave.  He did so.   I have great hopes for this pair because the presence of the male is far more obvious than any I've seen over the last 9 years.  The males for the last two years have been conspicuous by their absence and total lack of support.  The one must be a 'new' male!! 
Click on the image for a short video.
Tuesday, 14th April
 Nest building is continuing really well.  This year, the female is very methodical and precise in her technique.  The nest-cup is very central and she is being careful to compress the moss into the sides.  At the moment, it is still clear that the nest-cup has no building material in it but, for the first time, I have seen her coming in with what appeared to be some of the fur that I put in the fat-ball feeder.  I have seen her using her beak to push bits of it into the cup to start lining it. 
As usual, it was the male who entered first.  I had a camera set up to capture the entrance to the box and the inside so I was able to use the sound from the nestbox camera and edit their arrivals.  It appeared that the female was the first to visit the hole but didn't enter.  She jumped up to the roof but it was unclear if she stayed there.  Within seconds, the male arrived and after checking around, he entered.  The female was quick to follow and again almost landed on his head.  She did some compressing by shuffling and then left.  Click the image to view the video.


 

 Wednesday, 15th April
 This morning, the first visit was at 7.19 and it has been clear that the female has been building throughout the day.  It is now 4. 20 and she has been in several times with more grass and moss which she has been leaving at the sides  Now, she is now spending more time to line the nest-cup and line the walls.  It is also clear from this video that the base is now being covered and the wooden floor has almost been completely covered.  The still image shows her using her beak to tuck in the lining material.  Click the picture for the video.
Thursday, 16th April
This image shows how the nest appeared at 1.30 today.  I cut my hair this morning and put it in a fat-ball feeder.  It looks as if she may have found it as there is what could be some of it in the 10 o'clock position.  I shan't know for sure till next October time.
There is a short video if you click the icon.  It shows two visits captured this morning.  I have edited the gap between them but the first was as quick as it shows

Friday, 17th April
 I started my new little time-lapse program called Flix (http://www.nimisis.com/projects/flix.php)

I have a full version on the laptop but this is a demo version as I wanted to be able to monitor the visits to the box.  I started it at 6.20 this morning before she had been in and ran it till breakfast time.  I set it to grab a frame every ten seconds.  At 8.20, I stopped the grabs and created a short time-laps movie which showed five visits in this time.  By flicking through the stills, I was able to see that she first came in at 7.11 am and again at 7.31; 7.34, 7.55 and 8.14.  The image to the left, shows the nest at lunchtime today.  There appears to be long horse hairs incorporated into the nest-cup.  I didn't capture any video today as there is little to show.

Saturday, 18th April
 I was very pleased to see that she was roosting in the box last night.  In fact, she was nestled in the nest-cup so I was hoping that there may be an egg this morning.  There wasn't but she had already left when I logged on this morning shortly after 6.00 am and started the time lapse program.  It showed that she first returned at 7.15 and stayed for 45 seconds and didn't appear again until after I logged off at 8.20 am  The image shows her asleep this evening
This afternoon, I captured some video of her having to make a decision about a feather.  She tried to incorporate it into the nest several times and even appeared to take it to the entrance hole in order to fold it to make it more manageable.  She repeatedly tried to push it into the nest cup but, in the end, took it away.  No doubt she will return with it at a later time! 
If you click on the video icon, it will show her with the feather.

This is a picture of the male yellowhammer that has been visiting our feeding station.  There are a pair of them that have been seen almost daily feeding on the ground under the feeding station.  I have also managed to capture some rather shaky video of the pair of them in our hawthorn tree.  If you click on the image, it will open a larger version and if you click the video icon, it will show the video of them in the tree.


 
Monday, 20th April
 I was expecting to see at least one egg this weekend but still zilch!  I started Flix to take a time-lapse every 5 seconds again this morning. It began at 6.15 when the box was already empty and the first visit showed at 6.44 when the female was inside for 3 frames or 15 seconds.  At 6.49, both birds entered.  Firstly the male, and then the female.  That visit lasted 5 frames or 25 seconds.

On Saturday morning, we had a pesky black cat lying in wait under our bathroom window.  It is right by the feeding station.  I keep a plastic Jif lemon in there to deter just such a visit.  I squirted but missed so wasn't surprised to find him back again on Sunday and again this morning.
Tuesday, 21st April
 I thought I was watching an egg being laid, this morning.  I hadn't expected to see her still in the nest at 6.30 this morning but when I saw she was not only there but appeared to be 'panting' and in the process of laying.  I grabbed the video which has been edited for length and is linked to the first image.  Everything about the sequence points to there being an egg but I haven't been able to see one at all!  She has hardly revisited the nest today so if the egg is there, it is well covered.  I shall be watching again tomorrow to see if it was a phantom pregnancy or the real thing!
Meanwhile, we had a new 'visitor.'  It's another *&%^£$"% cat!  We haven't seen this one before and it didn't seem in too much of a hurry, even after a salvo of peanuts from a catapult whistled round his ears.  It returned a couple of hours later so clearly has not learned a lesson....yet!


This morning

This evening

Wednesday, 22nd April
We have our first egg.  I switched on at 6.35 this morning and found the egg already laid.  I assume it was laid around 5.00 am as in previous years.  I started 'Flix' the time lapse software to capture her returning to the box.  She did, eventually and just faffed around inside.
This image shows her when she returned to the box at around 7.45 this morning.   I haven't been around much this morning but there is little change in the appearance of the box this afternoon.
It looks as if I shall have to be up earlier tomorrow if I want to catch her actually laying.
If you click the image, it will show the time-lapse video of her first return visit but don't blink as it was taken at the rate of one frame every 5 seconds and played back at 25 frames per second.
 
Thursday, 23rd April
As expected, the second egg was laid this morning at around 6.15 am.  I captured a 30 minute sequence of the event and edited the painful moments of laying.  The video will open if you click the image. 
At first, she seemed very relaxed but suddenly her head jerked upwards as contractions started.  I have tried to edit out the inevitable 'hum' on the sound but there is still some there.  You will hear her body 'click' with each contraction and her efforts to lay will bring tears to your eyes, too! 
She clearly struggled to get the egg to pass and seemed to yell, "NOOOOOO!!!"  Her head was raised and shook from side to side.  Then, it was all over and she relaxed for a long while.  She didn't leave the nest for several minutes.  At one point, she appeared to become aware of something outside and was clearly startled.  I went to the lounge and scared off the black panther!


Three eggs

 Saturday, 25th April
The third egg was laid yesterday at 6.15 am and, once again, I managed to record the whole event.  It certainly appeared to be an easier task than on Thursday as it took less time to lay and she recovered rather more quickly, too.
This morning, the fourth egg was laid before 6.15 because by then, she had already left the nest.  It's been a filthy morning here, in West Wales with high winds and driving rain.  I haven't seen either of the pair return to the nest and it looks just as it did at 6.15.
Happily, it is now beginning to brighten up but still windy!


Four eggs


Five eggs

 Sunday, 26th April
The fifth egg was laid this morning at 6.17.  I captured the video which showed that she started her contractions about 8 seconds into the clip and had laid the egg within 20 seconds.  You can see her raise her body to allow the egg to drop before relaxing again.  Once again she raised her head and turned it from side to side, just as she did on Thursday.  She remained on the eggs for well over 15 minutes before she had recovered enough to climb off.  She took a look at them and then flapped her wings a few times.  I assume this was to waft feathers over the eggs to cover them a little.  It wasn't very successful.  She then went towards the exit but stopped and appeared to listen.  I dashed into the lounge to find that the reason for her hesitation was that the black panther (the cat with the stumpy tail) was stalking around under the feeding station.  Once again, I scared it away and, when I returned to the study, she had already left.
The image shows her looking at the results of her efforts and, if you click it, it will play the edited video.  The whole sequence, from just before laying to leaving was 22 minutes.  I have edited it to around 90 seconds.

Monday, 27th April
Egg number six arrived at 6.10 this morning accompanied by the usual head-shake of disbelief or relief!  She remained very still for the next three minutes before shuffling in circles and re-arranging the bedding.  At 6.23, she hopped off the eggs, fluttered her wings and left.  It was too wet for the BP this morning although the sun is out, now and the sky back to its usual Pembrokeshire Blue!


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