03 June 2019
In the end I nearly missed it. I had watched the camera for the last two mornings, wondering when the chicks would leave, so I was fairly sure today would be the day. Operation Neptune, on the original D-Day almost 75 years ago, was postponed for 24 hours because of the the weather and I expect this D-Day was as well. The chicks looked all set to go yesterday morning but it rained steadily all morning so that may have led to a change in plan. I was up this morning just after six and when I switched on the computer I saw a chick peering out of the box. I grabbed the cameras and ran to the car (parked outside the camera box) in my dressing gown. The first thing I saw was a face peering out.
I just had time to fix the Panasonic to the car window when the chick jumped out at 06.22.
Immediately there was another chick at the entrance and one of the parents soon arrived with food to tempt it out.
Over the next 10 minutes another seven chicks followed. At one point there were three within 40 seconds as on this video clip. You can hear a parent calling to encourage them.
Then it all went quiet. A parent came back with food and peered into the box briefly before flying off so I assumed that was that and that I had missed the first one. I was sitting reviewing the pictures on the back of the camera when I heard a cheeping from the box and another face appeared.
This last chick was very hesitant and reluctant to leave the box. I could hear the others up in the oak trees and I expect the parents were busy trying to keep track of them and to find their breakfast. Eventually the last chick left at 07.18, almost hour after first and more than 45 minutes after the eighth. Unlike the others it flew down, and fluttered to the ground a few metres away. So I picked it up and it sat on my hand, calling but not wanting to fly. The chicks had looked so robust and confident when they were in the box but this one looked tiny and very vulnerable.
I could hear the others in the tree above so I put it on a branch as high as I could reach.
It was able to clamber a few twigs higher so I left it in the hope that the parents would find it. When I looked later it had gone but whether it had joined the others or been taken by a predator I can't say. It would have been an easy catch for the crows and magpies that are often around in the garden.
Most of the chicks will end up as food for larger birds but a lucky one or two might survive until next year to raise their own young. This a hastily put together compilation of all nine leaving the box.
02 June 2019
When I got up this morning it was raining steadily, despite the forecast of a sunny breezy morning. The chicks were very active and had moved to the front of the box, even at one point looking out of the entrance.
Normally this would mean they are about to fly but I wonder if the rain led to a change of plan. The parents are still bringing in food as normal.
This may mean they will stay another day. Tomorrow's forecast is dry but then again so was today's. Tomorrow is day 20 and I have never seen blue tits stay longer than that. These look ready to go already. I haven't heard any other chicks in the trees from the other boxes.
01 June 2019
I have been out for most of the day, hoping that the chicks wouldn't fledge while I was away. In previous years they have usually gone before 8am so I was reasonably confident, but still relieved to hear them in the box when I got home. I think they will be off in the morning. There was lots of flying practice in the box this morning.
30 May 2019
The caterpillars seem to get bigger every day but they all get swallowed. There are now often several chicks sitting up on top of the nest material as there isn't room for them all inside. I think they take turns in sitting at the front so as to be able to grab the food.
29 May 2019
The chicks are pretty good at keeping quiet (except when the parents bring in food), presumably to avoid attracting attention from potential predators. They are well feathered and spent a lot of time grooming but so far there isn't much wing flapping.
28 May 2019
The mother is still sleeping in at night. She sleeps on top of a pile of restless chicks so she may not get much sleep. Feeding went on until 30 minutes before sunset and was well under way when I got up this morning. I reckon the parents are working a 16 hour day.
27 May 2019
The parents have been working hard all day despite the rain. The caterpillars they bring get bigger each day. I am not sure whether that's because they choose bigger caterpillars or because those available are growing as well.
26 May 2019
It is all going on today. Some of the caterpillars being brought in are large and the first one in the video was a monster. The parent kept folding it up and trying to feed it to a chick. I am not sure if it got eaten or was lost into the nest.
25 May 2019
I have been away for three days and the chicks have changed a lot in that time. When I got to the front door I could hear them calling for more food from inside the box. Since I got in the parents have been bring food every minute or so. The chicks now have their eyes open and sit staring towards the entrance hole. All nine look healthy. I think they are seven or eight days from fledging.
22 May 2019
The chicks are starting to exercise their wings already. Both parents are working flat out to feed them. Mother is a bit obsessive with the housework so the nest cup is much bigger and deeper than before and the chicks are lower down than they started. They are not yet big or strong enough to get onto the top level.
19 May 2019
I have been trying to get a photo of all nine beaks open but haven't yet managed it. Here are six.
I did get nine beaks in this shot but all were closed. I'll keep trying.
18 May 2019
It is non-stop action the box this morning. The parent birds are bringing in food every few seconds and the chicks are cheeping constantly. The parents look rather damp in the drizzle. The light is poor so the camera is in infrared mode and the pictures re B&W. Interestingly the camera does emit a little bit of heat which may help to keep them all warm.
17 May 2019
The chicks are now three days old and are growing rapidly. They have changed from tiny pink blobs to be grey and furry as their downy feathers develop. They can hold their heads up and this morning I can hear them cheeping. Mother sometimes broods them in the day but is mostly out foraging. She also does the housework whereas dad just fetches food.
15 May 2019
Right on schedule the eggs have hatched. First thing yesterday morning there were six chicks and three eggs and yesterday evening only one egg remained. By this morning all nine eggs have hatched and the parents are in full feeding mode. They deliberately select very small caterpillars at this stage and have timed it just right with the weather.
Here are a couple of short video clips from yesterday morning and this morning. Slight error - it should say 14 May and 15 May, not June!
Lots of other nests in the garden are at a similar stage. I can hear chicks calling from nests containing tree sparrows, great tits and starlings and see blue tits taking food into other boxes. Within a couple of weeks the garden will be full of fledgelings. These birds are due to fly on 1st or 2nd June.
The female is sitting most of the time and the male is usually nearby. Sometimes she calls to him for food and if he is within earshot and can find something he brings her a treat. In this clip he spoils the effect by standing on her head as he leaves! In order to edit (shorten) the clip I have to convert it from .mpg to .mp4 and in doing so it loses its audio track which is a pity. I'll try to record a shorter clip by getting the male to come in on cue and if I succeed I'll post that as well.
02 May 2019
This is interesting. Late on yesterday I got a clearer view and there seemed to be eight eggs.
She has now been incubating them for 48 hours.
I had a look just now when the bird left the box briefly and there are now definitely nine eggs so I presume she laid another one yesterday or this morning.
I reckon that will be it but if I get the chance I'll check again tomorrow.
01 May 2019
This little bird started sitting on her eggs yesterday afternoon.
I can now see that there are eight eggs as she leaves them uncovered when she pops out for a break.
The BTO says the incubation time is 13-15 days, presumably from the date of the last egg which I think was 30th April. So hatching will be around 14th May. Fledging is 18-19 days, so perhaps around 1st or 2nd June. I'll put an update here if anything notable happens before hatching.
30 April 2019
It has been very frustrating trying to see what is going on. The pattern of behaviour is the same - the bird sleeps in every night but isn't incubating in the daytime so I presume she is still laying one egg a day. The first egg arrived on the 23rd so if I am right by today we should have eight eggs. But because she leaves the eggs covered during the day I haven't been able to see them since the 26th, when there were at least three but but probably four.
Both birds are usually very close by and are watching me when I leave the front door. They visit the box very frequently, usually just perching at the entrance but sometimes coming in. Here the male is sitting in the entrance when the female arrives and he leaves straight away. They don't spend any time in the box together but he sometimes follows her in with a tasty snack such as a St Mark's fly.
In previous years I have never seen the female roost in the box until the clutch was complete or had one egg to go, so this behaviour is interesting. As she is not incubating in the day I think she must still be laying. I just wish she would let me get a glimpse of the eggs.
25 April 2019
This is interesting. I haven't been able to see in today as the eggs have been covered but I think there are three. Then tonight the bird is sleeping in. Normally that happens only when the last egg or the last but one has been laid. It will be interesting to see what happens from now.
24 April 2019
I think we have eggs! The female has continued to bring in feathers and grass and has been visiting the box frequently. This video clip shows both birds in the box two days ago when the nest was empty.
This was yesterday when I couldn't see into the nest.
And this is this morning. I got a glimpse and I am pretty sure there are two eggs. The first will have been laid yesterday which is the equal earliest date for this box, suggesting there will be a larger than average clutch.
Since then she has left them covered up.
20 April 2019
Having spent the previous week emptying the box, the female blue tit has spent this past week refilling it and she has made a lot of progress. She first brought in a lot of dry moss, looking very little different (to my eye) from the stuff she threw out.
Then she brought in fine grass and feathers and fashioned the cup.
Then more fine grass.
And more feathers.
This is where we are up to this morning. I reckon it must be almost finished. Usually the bird will complete the nest when she is ready to lay so it will be interesting to see what happens. The earliest first egg I have seen in this box was 23 April.
15 April 2019
I thought I was doing these birds a favour by leaving in the moss from last year's unfinished nest. I hoped it would save them a bit of effort but that has proved not to be so. Mrs BT definitely doesn't approve of the decor and has spent most of the past week clearing it out. This is how things looked a week ago.
And here she is starting to clear things out.
A day later she had got this far.
And the next day.
And the next.
She does a little dance with her wings outstretched to spread the material and measure the space.
Here is the dance and a bit more removal.
I haven't yet seen her bringing in any new material but I expect she will do soon.
25 March 2019
In the past few days there has been activity in the camera nest box with multiple visits from a pair of blue tits. When I cleaned out all the other nest boxes in the garden at the beginning of the year I left this one untouched. It was started by a pair of blue tits last year but they stopped before their nest was completed, probably because one of them was taken by a sparrowhawk. I left it to see what happened as it already has a layer of dried moss which should save this year's birds some work. The first view a few days ago was in early morning in poor light so the camera was mostly in infrared mode and the pictures were mainly black and white.
Here is a short video clip in better light to show the two of them.
This box has been up since 2009 and has been occupied every year since then. In the first year it had great tits and in 2017 a pair of tree sparrows. Every year from 2010-2016 it was occupied blue tits.
I have records of the date of the start of nest building for 5 of the previous 6 blue tit nests and it varied between 09 March and 04 April, presumably influenced mainly by the weather. So far I haven't seen any nest material being brought in this year but these birds have a head start. First laying dates in the past have varied between 23 April to 10 May with clutches of 2 to 11 eggs. In the 8 years of blue tit nests altogether there were 43 eggs, of which 42 hatched and all 42 fledged, so productivity has been relatively good.
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