2006 Diary 26th December Summary of Activity in December Box 1 We think that it is Jane, the mother of this year's brood in this box, has been roosting here for a few months. She looks a bit ragged but seems to be ok. Other blue tits have visited this box during the day and there have been a few scraps over ownership. Box 2 A blue tit, probably male, visited for a couple of wees and took up residence around the 22nd December. It generally visits a few times during the morning to clean the box. Box 3 A great tit has been roosting here for a coupleof months. It visits during the day. This position was occupied by a pair of blue tits during this year's breeding season. Blue tits have been seen during the day. On Christmas day, a pair of blue tits were seen. 19th November Boxes 2 & 3 were swapped in the hope that we would get colour pictures of the great tit. However, the great tit moved with its box. Box 1 still has the blue tit roosting and the great tit roosts in box 3. Box 2 has an occasional visit, from a male blue tit, during the day. There is often some activity in the boxes on sunny days. 28th October Pictures captured from boxes 1, 2 and 3 are now uploaded every 5 minutes, when there has been some activity. There is generally more happening on sunny days. Box 1 has a blue tit roosting most nights and is visited during the day. The great tit no longer roosts in box 2 but it does visit during the day. A blue tit has also been seen in box 2. Both blue and great tits have looked in box 3 but none have ventured in. Box 3 operates in colour and IR but the daytime lights have been disabled in case they were discouraging the birds. 20th October Visits to the nest boxes are intermittent now, so here is a gallery of recently captured images. Testing camera in box 3 19th October Nest box 1 & 2 cameras are live again and pictures are being updated hourly, if there has been any movement. A new camera is being tested in next box 3. 12th October The depth of field, in the pictures from nest box 1, is much better now. Changing the LEDs has improved the colour balance but the Axis 2100 does not allow fine enough adjustments. Video of blue tit inspecting the new lights (9Mb) It looks like the female, Jane, has returned to roost. Larger picture. The great tit is still roosting in box 2. Latest video here. 7-9th October We have started to clean out the nest boxes ready for the next season. In order to improve the picture quality, the lens and lighting have been changed in nest box 1. A blue tit has visited once or twice a day. Video of a blue tit inspecting the nest box Nothing nested in nest box 2 this year. However, it seems that a great tit has been roosting in the box for a while. It appears to have been keeping warm by roosting on the lighting bars, next to the camera. Video of the great tit going to its roost. Another roosting video Leaving in the morning (video) June 29th We finally got around to adding the pictures of the last couple of days before the Box 3 chicks fledged Click here for last pics. 11th June The Box 3 family fledged at some time between 17:00 on the 10th June and 10:00 today. Box 1 webcam feed stopped until next year....... More pics to come 9th June Apparently it is not unusual for males, especially, to lose some head feathers. It does not seem to have got much worse. Feeding is continuing. 7th June The parents in Box 3 are looking a bit ragged but they continue to feed the young Pictures from Box 3 taken on 6th & 7th June 6th June Now keeping an eye on Box 3 - yet more blue tits 5th June We recorded the fledging of the chicks from Box 7 today. These blue tits were in the end of a sparrow terrace. Pictures from Box 7 taken on 5th June 4th June We thought that all the blue tits had fledged. However, it seems that boxes 3 and 7 (one compartment of a sparrow terrace) are still active. 31st May - 2nd June The 3 chicks in Box 4 fledged on the 1st and 2nd of June. The first one went at around 08:00 on the 1st and the other 2 left before 07:30 on the 2nd. Pictures and video clips from 30th May to 1st June 30th May No visits to the box today so we will try to follow the fortunes of the 3 chicks that are close to fledging in nest box 4 29th May Pictures from 29th May - Fledging - Monitored Box The chicks fledged today between 17:15 and 20:08. 6 went between 17:15 and 18:00ish. However, the last one gave some concern since it took ages to decide to go at 20:08. The camera is now set to update hourly. 28th May 5 look quite large now and have been testing their wings. A couple always seem to be at the back for food. A couple of the larger chicks have been looking out a lot today. Not long before they fledge? Pictures from 27th May Pictures from 28th May 24th & 25th May Video of chick exercising its wings Video of chick eating a bit too much at once (Both in .mp4 - use VLC Player) Pictures of parents flying to and from the box Archive with more pictures of chicks 23rd May A few chicks now have their eyes open and appear to be much more demanding Archive with more pictures 21st May 7 chicks seem to be developing well. They are still in the cup but now have feathers and are stretching their wings often. Archive with more pictures & videos 17th May We have confirmed that 3 out of 11 eggs did not hatch. The most beaks spotted at one time has been 7 so it looks like one chick has not made it. 14th May The parents have been feeding their young all day. We can still see 2 unhatched eggs. We have named the parents Jane and Mick. AVI Video of both parents feeding the chicks. (Large file - 6mb, please save to your PC before playing) 12th May It looks like there are 2 eggs left. There has been plenty of feeding by both parents. Real time video (in MPEG4 - Use VLC Player if you have problems) Please click here and save to your computer before playing. 11th May 3 eggs left in the morning. no more hatched by the end of the day. AVI Video of Jane & Mick feeding the brood (1.2mb. It is best to save the file and play locally - right click & save as...) 10th May 1st to Hatch 10th May 09:15 Are there 11 eggs? 4th May The male paid a few visits around mid day to feed the female. It's the first time we have seen this happen. More pictures here 3rd May We tried out a camera looking at the outside of the nest box. We think that this is the elusive male. 30th April The female has been sitting most of the time and turning the eggs every 5-10 minutes. No sign of the male lately. 28th April It looks like there are 10 eggs 27th April It has been difficult to count the eggs until today, they have been covered most of the time. The female has been turning them regularly but she has not spent long in the box during the days. It appears that the female has finished laying and has started to incubate the eggs. 21st April 3 Eggs now (probably there since this morning) 19th April The first egg was laid between 17:00 and 20:00 today. 9th-13th April The webcam update rate was increased but there has been very little movement to watch. Only an hour or so of activity each day but the nest has a lot more material now. 8th April   The nest is taking shape. This was the first sighting of the pair in the box together. 6th April One blue tit roosting and building a nest. It spends most of the day out and about, visiting a few times to add to the nest. 5th April Camera assembly fitted - part built nest noted. 25th March 2006 Original nest box was replaced with larger box ready to fit a camera. 2005 Original box, without camera, was made and installed on east facing wall of garden shed. A pair of blue tits raised a family of about 5 young. The nest was removed and the box cleaned in late autumn.

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