Finally, this post is all about Box2. I have already reported seeing the first nesting wriggle of the season which took place in this box on 24th February. Also the fight for possession of Box2 which occurred on 6th March, so I won't cover these things here.
We have decided to call the birds in Box2 James and Jess. So it was Jess who brought the first nesting material into Box2 some time ago on 7th February.
(Yes, I know that was before the fight of 6th March, so it might have been a different bird, but as any regular reader of this diary will know, our birds always win the fights they are involved in!)
After the fight, Jess carries on building her nest. This was taken over two weeks later so her progress has not been rapid, to say the least!
However, she frequently does a nesting wriggle so she is clearly getting broody.
Incidentally, although Becky in Box1 appears to be a novice nest builder, she managed to find a mate that constantly plied her with food. We haven't seen James bring food to Jess in Box2 once!
At the start of 23rd March, the nest is more or less covering the floor of the box, but no feathers have yet been brought in.
By the end of the day, however, several white feathers have been collected. Clearly Jess considers that she has nearly finished nest building.
What's this! The traditional pink fluff!
For several years now, the female building a nest in this box has finished lining the nest cup with some pink fluff presumably collected from somewhere nearby. So if you are a neighbour and you wash your pink blankets at this time of year, do give us a Feedback message to introduce yourself!
By the end of the day, the nest looks more or less finished.
Females never completely finish nest building until they are having to feed their brood, so I expect small amounts of nesting material, probably mainly feathers, will continue to be collected.
As I said - Jess has collected some more feathers. She must have found a new source.
The last shot of March. The feathers seem to have been buried or removed and a small amount of hay has been added to the nest.
We keep taking a late peep at the nest box by briefly turning on the lights sometime well after dark, but so far Jess has not roosted in the box over night.
Today is 3rd April and at last Jess has started roosting in the nest box! She is fast asleep and doesn't appear to notice my turning the lights on for a few seconds.
Another shot of Jess roosting taken two days later on 5th April.
Now we're waiting for her first egg!