What's this going to Box1?
An odd happening occurred today at Box 1.
That hole's too small for you Robbie!
Tuesday 31st March, 2009
If you have ever wondered why a bluetit inside a box cowers when its partner enters, watch this sequence!
Before we start, you can see that Bella is continuing to take nesting material into her box.
But it still doesn't seem to be getting much fuller!
Anyway, Bertie is already in the box when Bella decides to join him.
Poor old Bertie - Bella appears to be landing right on top of him!
Oops!
Over at Box3, a great tit is having a look.
The hole is big enough for him to get inside without a problem.
He doesn't stay long - and doesn't go inside.
Still, he didn't fly away. A few seconds later he is having another look from above.
Back to Box1 where Fay has come to the roof of the box ...
... and then goes inside.
Inside the box ...
... she soon starts to look apprehensive ...
... and this rapidly becomes serious as she adopts a very defensive posture, and judging from her open beak, is making angry threatening noises too.
Fay soon moves closer to the entrance hole.
And this is the cause of all the fuss!
Fay is still in full "repel boarders" mode.
It looks as though the great tit is just curious rather than serious. If he was serious he would be getting onto the nest box hole to assess the situation better.
He looks a bit taken aback at the fierceness of Fay's response.
He edges away from a position of confrontation - and then vanishes from the scene.
Twenty seconds later, Fay is clearly wondering if the threat has gone.
After another half a minute, she flies up to the hole to have a look. How she could see another bird if it was still on the roof in another matter!
Finally, after another half minute, she decides to go herself.