Bluetit Diary    Mar 2005 (4)

 

 

Tuesday 8th March, 2005

There is still no sign of nest building, though the weather has been unseasonably cold for the last week.  However, our boxes have had a number of other visitors today, though none of them have gone inside.

Before we show you our other visitors, here is one of a bluetit coming into land on the entrance of Box2!

Who's interested in this box?  Don't nuthatches know that they need a hole of 32mm in diameter, and this hole is only 28mm?

Still, he does look very elegant!  Nuthatches are regular visitors to the feeding stations located in the garden, even coming to a peanut feeder just outside the kitchen!

Another shot of this attractive bird.

Well, this is a more serious possibility.  A great tit can get into a 28mm hole.  In fact it is the size the RSPB recommends for a great tit nest box although it seems a bit small to me.

They recommend only 25mm for a bluetit but our birds seem very happy with our slightly larger hole.

Just a reminder what a one winged nesting wriggle looks like!

Finally a shot of another of our regular visitors, a long tailed tit.  There have been two visiting us regularly during the last few weeks.  Sometimes there are four of them.  They like to feed on the cheese and the suet fat block Elizabeth makes for the birds.

We don't think long tailed tits are really interested in either of our nest boxes!

We have had more birds in our garden this winter than ever before - except for the flock of over 70 siskins we had last year.  Goldfinches are the most numerous, and we regularly get 10 to 15 of these at a time.  Blackbirds appear to be doing very well - in spite of being territorial birds, we frequently get up to 10 at a time feeding in the garden - the first time we have had so many.  Then we have greenfinches, chaffinches, collared doves, nuthatches, robins, starlings, song and mistle thrushes, dunnocks and a few house sparrows as well as the occasional more unusual visitors such as a bullfinch, coal tit, goldcrest, grey wagtail, jay, pied wagtail, redwing, sparrowhawk, and wren.

Just at the moment we are feeling very lucky as a pair of goldcrests and a wren have become frequent visitors to the bushes opposite our kitchen window.  I have seen a goldcrest several times today and have even gone to the extent of making sure my camera is nearby.  No luck yet, though!