Blue Tit Big Brother

Turning on the TV last night we saw the first signs of nesting material in the brother house nestbox. And a decidadely smaller bird fast asleep.

When it rearranged itself a few minutes later it was clear that this was a blue tit, not the great tit which has been roosting all winter. This evening the blue tit is in residence again, with a little more nesting material as well. So what has happened to the great tit? Has it gone quietly, or is there more drama to come?

Tags: blue tit, great tit, nest, nestbox, roosting

After watching a DVD yesterday evening (Beowulf—not nearly as bad as the opening scenes suggested it was going to be) we flicked the TV over to see if anything was going on on the PondCam. Three pairs of eyes glowed bright in the infrared light. After a while there was a good deal of splashing as two pairs of eyes moved together. Could this be frog porn on our telly? A moment later the third pair joined them—a veritable amphibian orgy perhaps?

Alas it seems not. There was no more frog spawn in the pond this morning then the small ball which had appeared the previous day. It’s still around 3 weeks earlier than the first frog spawn we spotted last year though. And it certainly seems like a good few frogs like our pond.

There are plenty of other signs of spring too. We have a primrose in flower and another coming, the tiny new leaves are starting to uncurl on the hawthorn hedge and there are daffodils in the front lawn.

Tags: frog, frog spawn, Pond, spring

Welcome back! The 2009 nesting season is almost upon us and things are looking interesting around the nest box.

Over the winter a great tit has taken to roosting in the box most nights. We’ve been wondering what would happen come spring.

Lately, a pair of blue tits have been hanging around quite a lot. Yesterday I saw both a blue tit and a great tit in the cherry tree where the nest box is sited, looking almost as if they were sizing each other up. Well today both blue tits have been in and out of the box, carefully cleaning up the poo the great tit has left over the winter. They clearly have designs on the nest box. And tonight, the great tit is roosting in it once more. Stay tuned to find out what happens…

and in other news…

We were given another camera for Christmas, a weatherproof infra red and colour one. I’ve just set it up overlooking the pond. The picture isn’t as sharp as the nestbox camera but I’m really looking forward to seeing what goes on around the pond at night. Not much at this time of year of course, but it’s warming up.

Tags: blue tit, great tit, nest, nest box, roosting

The garden is flourishing and the wildlife is moving in. This hedgehog appears to have taken up residence—he spent the morning asleep under the young cherry tree. He moved under the hedge pretty swiftly when the nephews arrived and were peering at him a bit closely.

There are plenty of frogs in the pond. Most of the tadpoles have gone now though. A froglet about 1cm long was wandering perilously close the sleeping hedgehog, but we didn’t manage to get a picture of that.

Tags: frog, Garden, hedehog, hedgepig, Pond

Things are starting to look great in the garden now. The brown mess that was the lawn after it had been scarified is now lush and green, and the new area of lawn is starting to look a bit like a lawn. The wild flower meadow has been a little disappointing. We’ve had no flowers, but the grasses are coming on well. It’s a huge change from what things looked like just after the garden makeover

One of the great joys has been the pond. It’s teaming with life. The tadpoles are just starting to develop legs. There are damsel flies, a plethora of mini beasties, a couple of frogs and we were delighted to see a newt the other day. It’s quite amazing how much wildlife has just arrived in our little hole in the ground.

Tags: frog, Garden, newt, Pond

All seven chicks have fledged!

It happened quite suddenly this morning. One or two more adventurous chicks spent the early part of the morning fluttering up to the hole and looking out. After only seeing the inside walls of nesting box for their entire lives this must have been quite a revelation for them.

Then one made the mistake of looking out of the entrance whilst one of the parents was in the nest. The parent basically pushed him out! But once one had flown the nest they all followed. Within a few minutes the nest was empty.

Here’s a slightly shaky view from outside of the last chick getting ready to leave.

Tags: blue tit, chick, fledge, fly, nest, nest box, NestCam

Wow, that’s some meal. But what goes in…

Tags: blue tit, blue tits, caterpillar, chicks, nestbox, NestCam, worm

The chicks look like little blue tits now, fully feathered and winged. Lots of wing stretching and trampling on the others going on. There are still 7, but 1 or 2 look much smaller and weaker, so even if they fledge sadly they probably won’t last long.

Tags: blue tits, chicks, nestbox, nestwatch, wing stretch

The chicks are growing at a tremendous rate. They have more feathers, their eyes are open and they’re starting to look more cute! There are still 7 of them, though it’s usually pretty difficult to count more than 6 at a time. Karma and Buzz continue to feed very frequently and have to remove poo almost as frequently!

Tags: blue tit, chicks, nestbox, NestCam

The weather’s been pretty hot over the last few days and the chicks appear to be suffering in the heat. They’re becoming more mobile and are crawling out of the crowded nest cup, presumably for coolness. Unfortunately the tree the box is in isn’t as heavily leafed as we thought it would be by the time the chicks hatched, so the box is only in dappled shade. We have considered putting up a parasol, but can’t work out how to do it and reckon that everyone could end up stressed by it, Buss, Karma, chicks and us!

Karma seems to endorse the ‘tough love’ school of motherhood: if you get in the way when she’s cleaning she’ll trample you! Altogether it seems a pretty rough world in the nest, jostling for space and food, and they’re only a week old. It can only get more crowded.

Tags: blue tits, chicks, crowded, nest, nestbox, NestCam