Today's better weather has led to birds being active in all three boxes at the same time for the first time this year.
Starting with Box3 - this was the sight that greeted us when we first switched on this morning. The first moss in this box in 2008!
Soon after, Abby was back with some more.
Later, she did a nesting wriggle - things are looking up! I'm pleased to see that she seems to be thinking of building the nest in the right place - ie not out of sight of the overhead camera!
Over in Box2, Sally is still messing about with her nest box. Sometimes she brings stuff in ...
... and sometime she takes it out again!
In ...
... and out again.
Silly Sally!
Still, we mustn't complain too much. At least it look as though the nest box will be occupied!
Here, she does a nesting wriggle too.
Even Gelda in Box1 has caught the nest building bug.
This isn't her first load of moss, but it is a big one!
With a flick of her head ...
... she spreads the moss across the floor of the nest box.
Ten minutes later she is back with another load.
And then another ...
... which gets the same treatment.
But this time she seems to have forgotten to let go of the moss!
Back with more moss ...
... another flick of the head ...
... and again she seems to have forgotten to let go at the right time!
This time a little twitch does it. You can see the moss here in mid air!
Now at last it has fallen to the floor!
She didn't appear to bring in any more moss before the end of the day - if anything there seems less in this image than in the one above!
Finally, a picture of Gelda preparing to roost for the night. It is 6 o'clock and the lights are due to turn off shortly.
At least she doesn't foul the box as a male bird would! I suppose it is because females are programmed to keep the nest box clean to reduce the chance of diseases in their chicks?