This is my first post of the new year. What will our birds get up to this time around?
Sometimes we think we have seen it all before but every year has its surprises.
Since I last posted, Christmas has come and gone. Of course, from our birds point of view,
nothing special happened!
We still have no birds roosting in either nest box. This has been the usual pattern for
the bluetits in our garden. In past years they have sometimes not started roosting until
after the nest has been built. However, when the weather is kind, all the birds in the
garden appear to think that Spring is just around the corner, so we are hoping that one of
our birds will start roosting earlier than normal this year.
Another visit from a rather smart bluetit.
It pops into the nest box to have a look around.
Note the lovely pale yellow chest feathers!
"Nice views - looks as though there should be plenty of food around here!"
It's obviously referring to the large oak tree within 20 to 30 feet of the nest box entrance. For a few weeks in the spring, the oak is normally covered with little tiny green caterpillars which eat the young oak leaves. The bluetits' nesting cycle is timed to coincide with this excellent food supply for their chicks.
"What's that thing up there?"
All our birds appear interested in the equipment up at the top of the nest box. The first year, one of the birds used to climb up to where the camera is at the top of the box. We have always assumed that this is because it is a nice cosy hole for them to roost in - certainly when the camera is switched on, it gets pleasantly warm!
After a near disaster when a bluetit nearly pecked through one of the power lines to the camera, I have installed a collar around the camera and blocked off the access in this way. The first year I did this I used a cardboard collar and one enterprising bird pecked through this to get to its cosy hidey-hole. Fortunately, it did not do any damage to the wires. The following year I used a piece of plastic to remake the collar and since then we have had no more problems.
It is not clear whether this is the same bird as the previous image which is now on the outside or its partner, talking to it from the other side of the box's hole. About 11 seconds separate the two pictures so it could be either. (I no longer have the images taken of the inside at that time!)
Certainly, it is clear from the birds' behaviour that pairing is in progress. Whether birds pair with their last year's partners, assuming they are still alive, or not I do not know. Oh for a qualified ringer to help with the birds' identification! Even after all this time, with a few honourable exceptions (eg Fluffy!), they all look very much the same.
This shows the end of this visit. The bluetit is about to leave the box and fly off into the surrounding wooded area.
