Blue tit behaviour

Alun · 24-04-2018 09:28AM #1

So, I've got my nest box camera up and running again this year, and have noticed some strange goings on this year that we haven't seen befoire.

Basically we seem to have two different females competing for the same nest box. One of them starts to fill the nest box, mainly with bits of dried grass, straw etc., and then another bird comes along and systematically removes all the nest material, bit by bit, and then proceeds to start filling it with bits of moss. Then the first bird comes along, removes the moss, and starts bringing in grass again. The one that brings in the grass seems to be the one that overnights in the box, as usually at the end of the day there's a good bit of grass in the box, but by 9am the next morning it's empty again.

I assume that one or the other of them will win out in the end, but not sure how they'll settle their little dispute. Anybody else seen this?

New Home · 24-04-2018 10:27AM

Wouldn't you put up another nesting box, to give both a chance?

Alun · 24-04-2018 10:52AM

New Home wrote: »

Wouldn't you put up another nesting box, to give both a chance?

Don't really have a suitable place for a second one unfortunately.

Alun · 26-04-2018 04:04PM

You'll all be glad to hear that whatever disagreement they were having seems to be resolved, and nest building is proceeding apace!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oel_he0NrPE

wexie · 26-04-2018 04:09PM

Will you post updates from the nestbox here Alun?

RockDesk · 26-04-2018 04:12PM

I'd love to do something like this but my garden is a hot spot for birds - which means it's a hot spot for cats to "watch". I wouldn't be able to put up a nest and risk having a baby fall out and a cat getting it.

Alun · 26-04-2018 04:15PM

wexie wrote: »

Will you post updates from the nestbox here Alun?

Would love to!

wexie · 26-04-2018 04:17PM

Alun wrote: »

Would love to!

Well that's why I'm asking cause my kids (and me) would love to see. We've tonnes of birdies here (and a nest box) but no camera or sound.

Alun · 26-04-2018 04:18PM

RockDesk wrote: »

I'd love to do something like this but my garden is a hot spot for birds - which means it's a hot spot for cats to "watch". I wouldn't be able to put up a nest and risk having a baby fall out and a cat getting it.

We have a cat ourself, but she's an old lady by now and a bit arthritic, so little chance of her catching anything. Anyway, we usually have a pretty good idea of when they're going to leave the nest so keep her in for a day or two until they've fully fledged, and no accidents so far at least!

Alun · 26-04-2018 04:22PM

Here's a few from last year ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fyKoZVVeII

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtReCN--Xuw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V14XlrAczi8

RockDesk · 26-04-2018 04:25PM

Lovely!!

I love watching these on Springwatch, I'll definitely look forward to seeing more of your videos!

Alun · 26-04-2018 04:43PM

I'll put up an update when she lays her first egg!

Alun · 02-05-2018 08:13AM

Well, two eggs in there this morning! I missed the first egg, that was laid yesterday but was hidden from view a lot of the time under a few feathers, but looked back at some footage from yesterday and found it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnvC8O2pPZE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2SfU-cMpOE

Alun · 03-05-2018 10:09AM

Three eggs this morning, as expected, they lay one a day usually, but I won't bore you with another video

Usually we get either 8 or 9 in this box, so give it another 5 or 6 days and we should be good to go.

I'll update if anything exciting happens, or when the first chick hatches.

Alun · 08-05-2018 09:02AM

Interestingly she seems to have stopped laying at only 6 eggs, quite a bit less than the usual 8 or 9, and much less than what's usually stated on most websites I've seen.

J6P · 08-05-2018 09:18AM

Great stuff! Looking forward to updates. Do you mind providing details on how to install a similar set up? Lots of birds around here and my daughter loves looking at them so would be interested in having a camera/nesting box like this in the garden.

wexie · 08-05-2018 09:19AM

Alun wrote: »

Interestingly she seems to have stopped laying at only 6 eggs, quite a bit less than the usual 8 or 9, and much less than what's usually stated on most websites I've seen.

Maybe it's because we've been having such a dreadful spring?

Alun · 08-05-2018 09:39AM

wexie wrote: »

Maybe it's because we've been having such a dreadful spring?

Could be, food supply might be down on previous years as a result?

Alun · 18-05-2018 02:12PM

First chick should be appearing any day now. The last egg was laid on 6th May, so that's 12 days and they usually appear within 12-14 days.

Alun · 18-05-2018 02:31PM

Well, I spoke too soon!! In the past they've always hatched very early in the morning, but I've just been checking the footage (it's motion triggered) and in the mean time we have two new chicks!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5XeB010LSo

RockDesk · 18-05-2018 02:35PM

Aah look at them! How exciting! Do they usually hang around your house after they've fledged or are they all completely gone?

Alun · 18-05-2018 02:42PM

RockDesk wrote: »

Aah look at them! How exciting! Do they usually hang around your house after they've fledged or are they all completely gone?

They usually hang around for a few days after they've fledged yes, but then head off into the big bad world.

wexie · 18-05-2018 02:44PM

When you see them all bald like that it's not hard to imagine they descended from dinosaurs!

Alun · 18-05-2018 02:51PM

And number three makes an appearance! This is unusual for this nest box, maybe it's the warm weather. Bodes well for the whole brood making it, as when they're hatching one a day, the last one or two are so small they don't make it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvZPhytpOIE

PCeeeee · 18-05-2018 02:55PM

J6P wrote: »

Great stuff! Looking forward to updates. Do you mind providing details on how to install a similar set up? Lots of birds around here and my daughter loves looking at them so would be interested in having a camera/nesting box like this in the garden.

Could I second this Alun?

Alun · 18-05-2018 03:23PM

PCeeeee wrote: »

Could I second this Alun?

The setup I have is a bit of a botch job, having been added to and tweaked over the years. You can get ready made kits with cameras from a lot of places including where I got some of my stuff, handykam.com. The tricky bit is that most of the cheaper kits have analogue cameras, so you need some kind of video server to convert the signal to a digital one so you can view the output on the computer/smartphone etc.

However I see now that they also have a couple of "web ready" kits where the camera is digital, so instead of trailing a video/audio/power cable across the garden you can just trail an ethernet cable which supplies power also over PoE. If I were to start doing the same thing now I'd probably go down that route.

It's definitely one of those cases where the old adage "buy cheap, buy twice" is appropriate. There are lots of cheap kits with bad quality, low res cameras out there which are best avoided.