Bluetit Diary    Feb 2002 (1)

Elizabeth reckoned that a bird would soon go into the box.  It did, and we watched several visits on the TV.  Almost the first time it went into the box, it tried to get up to where the camera is.  It managed to peck at the lens once, but it normally could get a grip on anything to stay there.  Its behaviour is just the same as last year's bird, and we are wondering if it could be the same one.  (See the diary for March 2001 to read about our problems with the bird attacking the camera).  We have the TV sound turned on, and we can recognise that familiar noise as a bird lands on the entrance to the box, and goes in.

We monitored Box2 today, but as far as we know a bird has not yet gone in, though we have seen one looking in.  Observing Box2 from the outside is not so easy - we have to stand on the  landing to notice any activity, whereas Box1 is visible from the sitting room and dining room. 

A bird went into Box1 - then another perched on the edge of the hole and looked in.  The first bird came out, pushing past the one on the hole, and the second one promptly went in.  This happened again a bit later.  One of the birds spent some time in the box, pecking around on the floor, and it also performed a "nesting wriggle".  The picture shows it taking and interest in a couple of marks on the side wall of the box.  (See also Wednesday 28th February 2001 for a description of the "nesting wriggle").  It looks as though two females are again competing for ownership of the nest box.   

Malcolm saw a bluetit go into Box2, and shortly after a second bird went in.  Immediately one bird left, but the other one stayed inside for a little while.  At the moment it is not easy to switch the TV monitoring between the two boxes.  Hopefully this will be improved before too long.

There has not been a great deal of activity since the diary was updated. We have been monitoring Box1 on the TV, because of the difficulty of switching from one box to the other. Also since we can see box one from our bedroom, sitting room and dining room, it is much more likely that we will notice any activity, whereas with Box2 we have wait on the landing to see if anything is happening.

Today we decided to monitor Box2. We were pleased to see a few pieces of moss in the box, and later I saw two birds repeating the behaviour we had noted on February 5th and 8th in Box1. Unfortunately I just missed photographing them passing in the box. However, I did manage to get a photograph a moment later, which still shows the dust raised by this exchange of occupants.

As this was being written, towards the end of the day, a bird entered Box2 again.  It pecked around at the floor in a desultory fashion, looking a bit uneasy.  By this time it was nearly dusk and the light inside the box was casting a clear shadow on its floor.  Last year we found that the birds appeared completely unaffected by the artificial light inside their home, but perhaps this bird is not yet completely at ease with it.  Malcolm just managed to get a picture before it left.

At 5.15pm a bird came into Box2. It is very windy, and there have been some periods of heavy rain during the day. We wondered if the bird might decide to roost in the box - surely it would be cosier than sitting on a branch? However after perching on the entrance, and looking out a couple of times, it decided to leave.

The problem with the TV monitoring being changed from one box to the other has been solved. One of our sons tracked down a simple unpowered switchbox (from Maplin Electronics, Order Code NA36P) that could be used to switch one of three inputs to two outputs, and brought it today as an early birthday present for Malcolm. The third setting is used for the infrared camera that we use to record the fox that comes for its supper, usually after we have gone to bed. Unfortunately the picture quality is not good enough to include a photograph here.

Elizabeth noticed some bluetit activity around Box1, and quickly changed over to view it, and found a bird already inside. It stayed quite still in one corner for some while, until a plane went over, which seemed to prod it into action. It went into a frenzy of pecking quite violently at one of the drainage holes in the floor of the box, then the walls, before moving to another corner where it had another energetic pecking session. It finally went up to the hole, and after a brief stop, looking out, flew away.

There has been little activity so far in Box1. We hope our severe reduction of the hornbeam tree has not had any effect on its suitability for a nest box. Here are photographs showing before and after views. We thought long and hard before having this operation performed on the tree, but it is in the south corner of the garden and caused nearly all of the garden to be in shade for most of the day. We hope it will not be too many years before its looks improve, but a long time before the shade returns to the extent it was before.