D-day on NestBoxCam

At last some success to report from my nest box camera.  The camera is very low res and now very old.  It was put up in 2009 so the software that runs it is at least 17 years old and the only computer that can run the software is 18 years old (and still works).  Because of all this the pictures and sound aren't very good so I have been thinking of replacing it all, but I have been discouraged by the recent lack of success.  Chicks were fledged from the box every year from 2009 - 2019 (mostly blue tits, once great tits and once tree sparrows).  Since then nothing. There were three chicks in 2022 but they died and in the other years there was either no attempt or no eggs after a nest was built.

In the past winter a blue tit was roosting in the box every night, something I haven't seen before, and I wasn't really paying much attention until I noticed a nest had been built in late April.  On 1st May I could see at least one egg (there must have been two) and the clutch of nine was complete by 8th May.  This video shows what happened as eight chicks hatched on 15th May and grew for the next 20 days.

Fledging was on 3rd June.  In previous years I have watched from the car with a camera but this time I watched on the nest box camera.  Two chicks left while I was in the shower and the next five went quite quickly.  No 8 was very reluctant and was still in the box at 09.30 when I had to go out but it had left by the time I got home.  I was interested to see that the parents were aware that there was still one left, despite presumably being busy trying to keep up with the other seven outside.

Encouraged by this I plan to install a new box with a new camera and new software for much better pictures next year.

Blue tits in the camera nest box

Exciting news from my nest box camera.  The box was put up in 2009 and had a nest every year until 2019, first with great tits, once with tree sparrows and for nine years with blue tits.  The tree sparrows were a nuisance because they built their nest so the camera couldn't see in, so there is now a 28mm entrance plate over the hole to allow only blue tits access.  For the last four years the box was unused, although in one year a nest was nearly completed and then abandoned, probably because a sparrowhawk took the occupant.

This year things have looked more encouraging.  I checked the camera every few days and noticed nest material first on 20 April.

From 04 May the female was sleeping in overnight, usually a sign that egg-laying is imminent.

And two days ago, on 06 May, the first egg.

Yesterday I think there was a second egg, although it wasn't easy to see, and today I expect we are up to three but the bird has covered them over while she is out.

In the nine years that the box was used by blue tits building started between 09 March and 04 April.  The first egg was laid from 23 April - 10 May with clutches of 2-11 eggs.  The later the first egg, the smaller the clutch tended to be.  The total of eggs in nine year was 52, of which 51 hatched and all 51 fledged.

Three years ago I modified the box by putting in a slightly angled false back wall and moving the camera up and back as far as it will go so as to give a view of the whole of the floor and the entrance hole.  Looking at it now the focus is a bit too close so the nest is slightly out of focus but it is too late to do anything about it this year.  It will be fine once the chicks are hatched.

The camera and the software are old and the only computer compatible with them is my 16 year old Sony.  So I am keeping my fingers crossed that the sparrowhawk doesn't take one of the parents and the camera and computer last long enough to see the birds fledge.  I'll put regular updates on a separate page accessible via Nestbox Cam 2024 at the top of the blog.

Better late than never

I had almost given up on a nest in the camera box this year.  Then three days ago I saw a single strand of grass that hadn't been there the day before.  And two days ago a blue tit arrived.

As well as having a good look around it did the wing-spread dance that is used to place nest material and form the nest cup - even though there was only one strand of grass to work with!  I hope this is good news and is a sign that blue tits will move in.  I have seen them jumping around in the bushes opposite so they are certainly interested.  Here is a short video of the bird's visit.

My nest box was put up in 2009 and was occupied every year from 2009-2019, once by great tits, once by tree sparrows and nine times by blue tits.  In the nine years blue tits produced 54 eggs (0-11 per year) of which 53 hatched and all 53 fledged.  For the last two years the box has been unused with no attempt at nest building.  I am not sure why as there have been plenty of blue tit nests in other boxes.

This is a late start but the weather has been miserable.  Previously the latest start for building was 04 April.  The date of the first egg has ranged from 23 April to 10 May with a later date strongly associated with a smaller clutch, probably weather-related.

Data from the BTO BirdTrends show that nationally blue tits are laying their first egg about a week earlier than 50-odd years ago, probably related to climate change.  There is wide year-to-year variation, again probably weather-related.  (Day 110 is 9th April.). The first egg has been laid here between day 120 and day 137, so later than the nation average as we are farther north.

Over the same period the BTO data show a reduction in clutch size, brood size and number of fledglings.

Despite this blue tits are doing well with an increase in adult survival.

If the blue tits make a go of it this year I'll put regular updates on another nestbox camera page for the blog, accessed via a tab at the top of this home page, as I did for 2015-2019.

While the cat's away, the mice will play

Or in this case, while the sparrowhawk is away all the small birds will make the most of it.  The trail camera is set up to watch the new sparrowhawk perch in the kitchen garden but it records a lot of other birds while he is away.  Even when the coast is clear they are still very much on edge.  Here is a taste.

There is a surprising amount of activity after dark, including this rather indecisive wood mouse.

Garden birds in April

This blog has been rather overrun by mammals recently but I haven't given up on bird photography.  April was a good month for birds in the garden, including the arrival of chiffchaffs and blackcaps from Africa.

I saw the male kestrel again very early one morning.  Twice he dived down to the lawn to catch something which I think was probably a worm.  Although their main prey is small mammals, kestrels eat other things including small birds, insects and worms.

A pair of jays are in the garden every day.  They are the prettiest crows and are great opportunists.  This one was standing under the peanut feeder while a woodpecker was feeding, waiting to catch the bits as they fell.

Jackdaws also come down to the feeders and stand underneath.

Jackdaws are more agile than jays and can get onto the feeders themselves.

I also have a woodpecker feeder which has holes filled with suet.

It also attracts other birds.

And you-know-who is still around, keeping them all on their toes.

There were lots of other birds I didn't take photos of - all the usual suspects plus reed bunting and green woodpecker. The only disappointment is that my camera nest box is unoccupied for the first time since it was put up in 2009.  I have modified it slightly to move the camera so that it can see the whole floor and the entrance hole so it would have given good pictures.  Maybe next year.

D-Day

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.

Nest box update

I read recently that blue tit chicks eat about 100 caterpillars each per day.  That means these are getting through up to 900 per day.  If each parent does half of the work it means each bringing a caterpillar every 2½ minutes for 16 hours, which is probably about what they are doing.  One parent habitually pauses on the guttering before flying in.

Here is the other with a beakful of what looks like chewed flies.

By the time they fledge the chicks will have eaten close to 20,000 caterpillars and there are another four boxes in the garden with blue tits (that I know of).  That means blue tits alone will have eaten 100,000 caterpillars in three weeks. And there are great tits, coal tits, tree sparrows and all sorts of other birds in the garden.  If it wasn't for them the world would be overrun by caterpillars.

Today is day 17 and the chicks are fairly well developed.  They are now sitting near the front of the box and are taking a great interest in the entrance (because that's where the food comes from!) but I haven't yet seen any climbing up to look out.

They hatched on 15 May


Here they are at 10 days of age.


Last night was the first time mother hasn't slept in with them, usually a prelude to fledging.  She probably thought she would get more rest in a bush somewhere.

In previous years the blue tit chicks have fledged at 18, 19 or 20 days so these will go in the next three days.  I will post an update when they do.