Great Tit Nestcam- Nest Abandoned? Help Please :)

[Popsiclepop]

Hi all, (sorry if this is long, please bear with me )

I'm a new user on this forum, but have been looking at all the posts about nest cams etc and have found it really useful and interesting!

This year we set up a new nestbox with a camera, bought from the RSPB. We were really happy to find that a Great Tit had chosen to make a very good nest in the box.

For over a week the female had been roosting in the nest at night and we have seen her hiding the eggs she has laid in the moss at different parts of the nest.

Last night we were really pleased because she had been out all day presumably feeding up, before coming back to the nest and pulling all of her eggs out of the moss and into the middle of the nest beneath her. We assumed that she was planning to sit them.

This morning she was still sat on the eggs and the male was coming in to feed her (though he was possibly finding getting into the nest a bit difficult). After many small feeds/visits the male left and the female also followed behind him!?

The eggs are not really covered and we guess there are around 9 in there. Neither of the two have returned to the nest for over an hour now.
I was hoping anybody might be able to shed some light onto what is happening? Do you think maybe this was a 'practise run' or that they have abandoned the nest? It seems strange that she has sat the eggs for a while before leaving them uncovered...

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thankyou.

[astarsdad]

Hi,
I would imagine the female has not finished laying, when she has finished laying she will incubate the eggs so that they will all hatch at the same time.
Terry

[Popsiclepop]

Originally Posted by astarsdad

Hi,
I would imagine the female has not finished laying, when she has finished laying she will incubate the eggs so that they will all hatch at the same time.
Terry

Thankyou for the info, I was actually just about to post that she has returned! It's been a couple of hours but she is back on the eggs now so hopefully everything is ok
Pop

[animartco]

It is very common for birds to make two starts at incubation. If the eggs have only been warmed for a short time cooling will not harm them.

[Popsiclepop]

Originally Posted by animartco

It is very common for birds to make two starts at incubation. If the eggs have only been warmed for a short time cooling will not harm them.

Thankyou for the info! It is a great relief to hear this as yet again she has left the clutch after sitting them for a while. It seems the male is unhappy about getting into the nest box, making me suspect that he is a first time nest box user. He does manage to get into the box and feed her but he makes a lot of frustrated noises when doing so!
Pop