Bluetit Diary    Jan 2015 (1)

 

 

Sunday 4th January 2015

Yesterday I took down Box1, removed the remains of last year's nest (including the dead chicks!) and gave it the usual clean using boiling water.  I also checked the lighting in Box2 which had been taken down earlier, and re-mounted it.  By today, Box1 was dry and so that too could be re-mounted, ready for the coming season.

All this went pretty well, with no major problems.  As usual, both the 12v pea bulbs had blown but fortunately, thanks to the folk at Boxwatch coming to my rescue last year, I had some spares.  Therefore by about half past one, both boxes were up and running.

The first box to go up this year was Box2 which had been installed yesterday afternoon.

At 10.30 this morning, it got its first visitor - pretty quick bearing in mind that the box had been taken down, cleaned out and stored in the garage for the last month!

It looks rather a scruffy bird, bearing in mind that at the start of the breeding season all bluetits look their best.  I suspect that it must be an old male.

You can see what I mean here!

Directly after the first bird left the nest, a second bluetit arrived. 

This bird looks much smarter.

Look at that clean outline.  Not a feather out of place!

My guess would be that the first bird was an old male and that this one is his young female partner, looking forward (?) to her first breeding season!

When checking the external camera for Box1, I noticed a bluetit examining the bundle of wires wrapped up in a plastic bag.

He must have known he was being watched because he turned and looked at the camera.

Mounting and removing the box is simplicity itself.  A wooden holder is screwed to the tree and a similar, but upside down piece is attached to the back of the box.  This acts like a hook when placed on the box and the box is kept securely in place by its weight and the weight of the camera and power cables.

The box was replaced at 13:33.

Twelve minutes later, Box1 had its first visitor!

Less than 10 minutes after that, he goes inside for the first time.  This bird must be an old hand!

He spends some time inside, sometimes taking a look at the view from the entrance hole.

Soon after, he left.

Let's hope this means that we have already got customers for both boxes!

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