Something odd happened in Box1 today. I think both Box1 and Box2 have more than one pair of birds interested in them. The only explanation of the following that I can think of is that is was caused by a case of mistaken identity!
It all started with a bluetit arriving on the entrance of Box1.
No messing about here - in it goes!
(I use 'it' because I am not sure of its sex!)
Inside the box all is as it should be.
Half a minute later, another bird arrives. It approaches the box somewhat tentatively as though it wasn't sure what welcome would await it.
Twenty seconds later, it flies onto the entrance hole and has a look inside.
The bird in the box is clearly not a friend of the one outside. Watching what it is up to over a series of pictures, it is fluffing its feathers up and cheeping vigorously. Not a welcoming posture!
Half a minute later, the bird on the outside is still there but appears to be distracted by something outside the box ...
... and flies off. (You can just see a blur of a bluetit's wing in the bottom left of the picture!)
This is where it starts to get tricky. Twenty seconds later a bird came back and landed on the entrance hole again. Is this the same as the last bird or is it a different one?
They both look very much alike but so do most bluetits at this stage of the season!
Whether it's the same bird or not, the welcome is just the same! A minute has passed since the similar picture above, but this bird hasn't relaxed its guard at all.
This time, though, it goes inside pretty quickly - about 10 seconds after landing on the box.
The birds inside still clearly doesn't like it ...
... so the newcomer turns ...
... completely round ...
... before deciding to ...
... drop to the floor of the box anyway.
Now, is this the way someone wanting to take over the box would behave? It seems to me that the first bird was a newcomer and this is the partner of the bird on the floor of the box. It is even turning it's back on the bird inside! No hint of anger or any preparation for an attack.
"Come on - it's only me!" it seems to be saying.