Blue tits

[selo7we]

Hi we've had a pair of blue tits building a nest in our nest box over the last 4 weeks and up until last monday they were coming into the box every day,but over the last 4 days we have'nt seen them at all, is it normal for blue tits to have a break from nest building or is it possible that something could have happened to them? this is the first year we've had blue tits nesting so we have'nt had previous experience of blue tit behaviour, sue

[Willo]

Somebody more knowledgeable than me may correct me but it could be that the nest building has stopped and the laying and incubating has begun. Have recently moved and left my nestbox behind so I won't be watching my blue tits this year but it is great to watch them and lucky enough to catch them fledging at the end of May a few years ago. I hope you enjoy watching your pair and their young family.

[RKB]

Yes, it's normal. They often build a nest, and may wait before laying for several weeks. They may even lay, and then wait many days before starting to incubate. They use temperature as a queue, and also the way the spring is going. They are trying to time it with the peak of caterpillar hatching, which is timed with the leaf/bud burst, which is timed by the temperature/climate.

Of course, Sparrowhawks still have to eat, and many blue tits get killed while nesting, so you may also get a break/halt if the female has been killed.

Also, when laying, they lay an egg a day early in the morning. They might not visit the box again all day, and cover the eggs with nest material until the clutch is complete. they only incubate when the clutch is finished. As a Blue Tit can lay 14 eggs, that's two weeks when you'll see very little activity and maybe not even an egg, even though there are eggs being laid every day. In southern England, Blue tits are just starting to lay (although many haven't started yet)

[selo7we]

Hi thanks for your reply's, the thing is we have another problem now, late this afternoon i noticed a bee flying into the box and flying out again, it was in the box for quite some time, then it went away but came back a bit later on, will this interfere with the bluetits nesting when they come back? sue

[reino]

Hello Sue,
I hope you don't have the same problem we had last year......We ended up with a wasps nest in our nesting box.
Reino