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02-03-2005, 12:24 PM
|  | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 906
| | | Blue Tits nesting
Just to confirm that the blue tits have begun nesting here in the north of England. In fact, they first showed signs of activity a couple of weeks ago, certainly earlier than 2004. I'll keep an eye on the nesting box camera and let you all know how things progress - a clutch of 7 or more eggs isn't unusual and it's a fascinating cycle of events. |
03-03-2005, 06:52 PM
|  | Wild Member | | Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: West Lothian in Scotland.
Posts: 122
| | I have a friend in Ireland Tinkerbell who has set up a webcam inside one of his nest boxes. There are a couple of blue tits bringing in nesting material as of today!!  Spring is on it's way. 
I'll keep you updated.
Last edited by StuartDH; 08-02-2006 at 05:10 PM.
Reason: blue tits nesting
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06-05-2005, 04:21 PM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 906
| |  Blue Tits nesting
The nest complete - 5 star accommodation some 4/5 inches deep comprising moss, hair, and loads of feathers (where do they find them?) amongst other things - mother tit is now sitting on at least 9 eggs. The actual laying process which takes several days, is quite eye opening as she sits panting for quite some time, before sticking her rear end into the air, then out pops an egg! The eggs are turned several times a day and at present she will sometimes leave the nest to look for food herself, although her time is spent mostly on the nest with her mate occasionally bringing in supplies for her. We look forward to seeing the first sign of the new brood hatching, bringing with it the accrobatics of the hen as she tends her young. More news in due course. |
08-05-2005, 12:10 PM
|  | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sunny Doncaster
Posts: 4,328
| | | I have seen a similar concept before. I know that to install it wasn't too technical. Just a matter of buying a flat board infra red camera and installing it, out of season. But if I could ask a question - the flatboard monitor has to be focussed for optimal viewing. How do you estimate the height difference between the bottom of the box and essentially where the top of the nest would end up, or does it not matter too much. A friend suggested it would be to add an extra inch by placing something an inch thick in the bottom of the box and then placing a penny, then you manually adjust the cameras lens til the Queens head is in focus. Is this correct?
Thanks
Boddie
Last edited by StuartDH; 08-02-2006 at 05:10 PM.
Reason: blue tits
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08-05-2005, 12:49 PM
|  | Administrator and Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: On the Malvern Hills
Posts: 3,142
| | | I've got a couple of cameras (unfortunately no birds nesting), but the camera with an f1.2 6mm lens can focus fairly sharp for at least half of the box.
My other camera (not sure what size lens) has to be set up very precise and even just a 1 cm difference in distance from the lens can result in a sharp picture becoming visibly blurred.
So I guess the best thing to do is get a camera with a low f number, because even if I set up the second camera to have a very sharp picture once the nest is built, the chicks would soon look out of focus if they stick their heads up high when feeding.
Last edited by StuartDH; 08-02-2006 at 05:10 PM.
Reason: blue tits nesting camera
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15-05-2005, 09:51 AM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 906
| | | 10.00a.m. 15th May and we were lucky enough to see some of the chicks emerging from their shells. Mum was off the nest and came back to find 3 newcomers. She immediately started to fuss them, and dealt with the shells (I think the parent eats these), and was then joined by her mate who brought in food and inspected his brood himself. Now begins the hard work!!! |
16-05-2005, 08:05 AM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 906
| | | 16th May and just one of the original 9 eggs left to hatch. Last night the hen bird arranged all of the chicks so that their heads pointed towards the edge of the nest, before she then 'settled' down for the night. In fact it's one great fidgeting exercise as the young wriggle beneath her, but the male has been most attentive as he brings in provisions for her and the young. This morning the chicks have all been moved - heads together in the centre of the nest, so that when food appears they all have a fighting chance! |
17-05-2005, 06:07 PM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 906
| |
At least 7 little trumpets (beaks) burst into life, even before a parent enters the nest. The young just seem to know - maybe some call is given on approach. The little ones climb over one another continuously when left alone, and then flop with exhaustion. Their eyes are the most prominent part of their bodies just now, that is until they open their beaks. The feeding process goes on and on, with visits by the male too - his attention is quite touching and we think he roosts pretty close to the nest also. The majority of the day the hen bird keeps the young warm, but now and then she will disappear for a short while. Housekeeping is obviously an important part of the job; when droppings appear the hen will seek them out and remove them from the nest. All this by instinct - a wonderful thing nature!!! |
20-05-2005, 08:55 AM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 906
| | | Friday 20th May and the 7 chicks have almost doubled in size - there must be a plentiful supply of food available. Parents coming and going every 90 seconds or so, sometimes, never quite managing to satisfy this pressing need. How do they know which chick has the greater need? The young, themselves, are starting to form markings which presumably are downy feathers - a darker mark down the back now, each limb and wing becoming far more prominant. Although the hen tries to keep them in check they are becoming far more active and adventurous as they climb out of the well of the nest. I read today that a blue tit may survive for up to 21 years - think of all those potential offspring to care for!! |
22-05-2005, 08:13 AM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 906
| | I switched the tele on a moment ago to observe progress from our camera, and to my amazement there is a new chick visible, resembling those which were hatched last week. The poor little thing is struggling to make itself seen or heard, above the others in the nest, but I am hoping that it will manage to make it to the top of the pile and receive some nutrition. Mum and Dad have both been popping in and out but the hen has been performing her usual acrobatics to arrange the chicks as she prefers; she has now settled down again, so perhaps the little one is receiving some t.l.c.!! P.S. This family saga has now progressed to page 2.  |
24-05-2005, 07:53 AM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 906
| | | It was Sunday evening, when I think the male decided to indulge in a 'take-away' but he was going for quantity, rather than quality! He appeared with a worm about 8cm in length which he initially offered to the hen. She then dangled it over the chicks and they, in turn, took the bait. However, being small and very young it was too much for them to handle and it was like watching a tug-of-war between chick and hen. Eventually the hen swallowed the worm herself (perhaps to regurgitate some for the chicks?), but the whole happening was very comical to watch. Boring it aint! |
25-05-2005, 05:56 PM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 906
| | | Talk about back-to-front! I think this mating pair must be new to the game or they've thrown away the rule book. Not only do we appear to have up to 7 maturing chicks, there is now at least two new eggs in the nest. Still I suppose the hen can leave the eggs in the knowledge that the young chicks will keep them warm when she is away. At present all is calm, the little ones appearing to be well fed and exhausted. Mum has just returned, upended, and turned her offspring to face outwards, once more, to settle down for the night. |
26-05-2005, 01:36 PM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 906
| | | Thurs. 26th and having just taken a quick look at lunchtime progress, which suggests everything is currently O.K., I am nevertheless reminded of the sad conclusion to a similar nesting saga 2 years ago. All appeared to be maturing satisfactorily and they were in fact closer to flying the nest than the current brood, being that much bigger. However, one of the parent birds just stopped attending to the chicks and the remaining bird was left to handle things on their own. It all became too much of a burden - the constant to and fro seeking food for the little ones - and this other bird gave up on the nest too. The few remaining chicks sadly died overnight. The experience illustrated that not only is nature wonderful, but it can also be extremely brutal. |
27-05-2005, 06:24 AM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 906
| | | A bewildering scene this morning. One dead chick lying at the perimeter of the nesting box, presumably having hauled itself up out of the nest; the solitary egg remains in the nest with one live chick - all the rest having gone. They were too small to fly, so must have been removed (I don't understand why one dead chick remains). The hen has not abondoned the nest, she is still coming in and out to feed the live little one, though I have to say it doesn't look particularly strong. She then settles down on the nest once more. It really is a strange situation.
Sat. 28th and the last little fighter didn't make it. The chick, which was quite mature - well defined feathers, but still small - was visited throughout the day by both parents, who brought it food. However, last night the hen failed to sit on the nest. This morning both parents re-appeared once more with food, but sadly the chick had died overnight. The parents still came in a few times more.
Later today we shall take the box down and remove the chicks. The other dead ones appear to have been buried under the moss and feathers, away from the nest well - could their presence have contributed to the ultimate death of all? We shall replace the nest and see what happens. It's always an amazing insight into nature, whatever the outcome - last year we saw seven birds fly the nest - and we hope for a happier conclusion again next year.  |
28-05-2005, 09:51 AM
|  | New Member | | Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 8
| | | HELP!
We built a nesting box per RSPB specn. last year and have spent weeks watching a pair build the nest and go on to lay eggs. For at least two weeks, nearer three, they have been flying in and out many hundreds of times per day with food, and the fledglings have been audible for some days now.
Here's the problem: we made the mistake of opening a window last night and it was left open with music playing, less than 10 feet from the box. We have not seen the adults since! We have sat up since 6.0 a.m. today without seeing even one of them, but the young ones are now becoming vocal and we fear they might starve. Do blue tits leave their young to it at some stage in order to coax them out or are we right to fear the worst? There appears to some activity within the box, but with no sign of the parents, we do not know what to do for the best. So far we have taken care NOT to touch the box or go anywhere near it - any suggestions? |
28-05-2005, 10:30 AM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 906
| | | In reply to your question re the lack of parental activity - personally I wouldn't interfere with the box (I don't know if you could rear them further by hand, and I doubt the parents would return if you intrude anyway). I doubt very much if an open window was to blame for this change in behaviour (it's usually the removal of flight path objects which 'throws' them). If the chicks have been hatched for maybe 3 weeks, they must be very close to maturity - could the parents be in a nearby tree encouraging them to fly the nest? It is so distressing when a nest is abandoned but not unusual. As you'll see from my edited post, ours were not abandoned, which makes it all the more puzzling - perhaps it was contaminated food, or too many mouths to feed initially, making it harder for the clutch to thrive.
But, Good Luck with your nest! |
28-05-2005, 03:31 PM
| | New Member | | Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 8
| | Thanks for the words of encouragement, Tinks, but no, the parents don't seem anywhere near with 3 people vigilantly watching. That said, one of us swears they saw an adult exit the box - that would be about 2 hours ago and it has not returned!
The young ones are now making quite a noise, and we have seen one get as far as sticking it's beak out the hole, but that's it. Whether it was the music or not we don't know, but they seem to have been devoted parents before this, hence the query if blue tits sometimes resort to "tough love".
We tend to agree in leaving them alone and let nature take it's course: maybe one or two of (up to) thirteen (?) will make it and justify the huge effort... but it's just very sad to think that none may survive and we sit back allowing them to starve to death! We do not have the resources to raise them ourselves and we do not know of any organisation that might want to care for them at this stage.
Whilst typing this, "the beak" has presented itself again and actually showed a face, so our hope is that it's preparing to depart the nest and hopefully set an example for the others. Will keep you posted, hoping we're not hijacking the thread.  |
29-05-2005, 06:49 AM
| | Officer of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 906
| |
No probs with the thread changing hands, you'll see from the number of views it's been popular with many visitors. So it's over to you - maybe I can start another in the future, which will be of interest. In the meantime I shall be reading this thread to learn of others successes or disappointments. |
29-05-2005, 02:00 PM
| | New Member | | Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 8
| | All quiet today. So much so we felt we could risk a quick peep (wearing the marigolds. ) All gone except for three tiny babes, quite dead. It's always sad but we feel better about it now as we think at least as many will have survived, and from the noise they were making, maybe more.
I wish we had installed a webcam, so another job before nesting starts again next year. Good luck everyone. |
01-06-2005, 12:39 PM
| | New Member | | Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 2
| | | Blue Tit nesting
Hi all, we had tits nesting in our box recently that my dad made about three years ago out of a hollowed out log. The last two years they had been looking but we had no luck. But this year they layed and hatched and were probably a week or so old. But yesterday I noticed that the parents hadn't been back for ages then the next morning my dad had a peek in the box and they were all dead! Why do they abandon them like that? Could it be because we went to move the box, we didn't reliase they were nesting and my dad was going to move the box to a different location in the garden but as soon as we saw the babies in there we put it back. I watched for a while to see if the parents were going back in and they were so we thought they were okay. I hope it wasn't cause we moved it, we have looked in the box in previous years at our old house and they have been fine. |
01-06-2005, 01:16 PM
| | Administrator and Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: On the Malvern Hills
Posts: 3,142
| | Hi Natt,
It's probably quite likely that the parents stopped feeding the chicks because of a lack of available food.
A nest of blue tits needs to be fed literally thousands of caterpillars etc before the young will fledge and so it's a seriously tough job for the parents to find that amount of grub.
It's the luck of the draw, but hopefully now the box has seen some use, you may get them back next year for another go, and hopefully better results.
Fingers crossed
Stuart |
01-06-2005, 02:42 PM
| | New Member | | Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 2
| | Thanks Stuart.
At least thats made me feel a bit better! My cousin actually said the same thing - not enough food. And its still early, we have two Blue Tit boxes in our garden so hopefully we may get some more this year! We also have a Robin box and a Bat box; no Robins as yet but it looks like we've had some goings on in the Bat box!
Natt |
02-06-2005, 12:46 PM
| | Administrator and Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: On the Malvern Hills
Posts: 3,142
| | Major Bonus!!!
Activity in a bat box is a great result...let's hope you get some young apeearing before long.
We've regularly got bats flying about at night in the back garden but never really thought it possible that they'd take to a box...but now you've inspired me to build one for next year. |
02-06-2005, 07:12 PM
| | Commander of the Wild Empire | | Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Sunny Doncaster
Posts: 4,328
| | | Is this the most read thread ever? I have been fascinated by the progress and it appears loads 'tune in' to find out what the progress is. Excellent |
05-06-2005, 08:36 PM
| | New Member | | Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 1
| | | Blue Tit fledgling concerns!
HI there,
I'm mnew to this board and new to bird watching. I really upset. Can someone make me feel better. 2 years ago I placed a tit box in my garden. THat year blue tits nested and watching the fledglings leave the nest was a delight. It happened end of May. Today, Sunday 5/6/05, the fledglings were ready for take-off! 5 flew out but only 3 flew away, and 2 fluttered down to my garden. One later flew off but I was worries about the last one. It struggled to the lawn ( fortunately there are no cats! ) where the parent continued to feed it. I stayed really still and witnessed it happening. I had to leave in the afternoon for a few hours. When I returned, the poor thing was stoill on the lawn and the mother appeared to have left. I was really struggling and finally keeled over and died. This is so depressing! Is this normal or was I just unlucky. I buried the poor thing in the border! E-mail me on: colin.old@btopenworld.com
Colin Old
ps. Do I need to clean out the box each year or do I just leave it. I left it last year and it seemed to be OK. | | |
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