The diary started this year on Thursday 7th January 2016.
| Box1 | Box2 | Box3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 Jan | Monitoring started | Monitoring started | Monitoring started |
| 8 Jan | First visit | ||
| 14 Feb | First nesting wriggle | ||
| 19 Feb | Box regularly visited | Box regularly visited | |
| 22 Feb | First time two birds in box together. Fight with nuthatch! | ||
| 25 Feb | First nesting wriggle. | ||
| 29 Feb | First visit | ||
| 3 Mar | First nesting material brought into box | ||
| 4 Mar | Nesting wriggle | ||
| 6 Mar | Fight at box entrance | ||
| 27 Mar | Nesting wriggle | ||
| 1 Apr | Male entices second female into the box Quarrel between two females |
||
| 4 Apr | First feather added to nest | ||
| 9 Apr | First nesting material | First nesting material | |
| 12 Apr | Bess brings nesting material while Spikey already in box! | ||
| 15 Apr | The two females now tolerate each other | ||
| 18 Apr | Bird roosted in the box overnight for the first time | ||
| 20 Apr | Floor of box nearly covered | FIRST EGG! A third bird, definitely female, in and out of nest box! | |
| 21 Apr | Egg 2 (presumed) | ||
| 22 Apr | Egg 3 | ||
| 23 Apr | Egg 4 (presumed) | ||
| 24 Apr | Eggs 5 & 6! | Most of nest box floor covered | |
| 25 Apr | Eggs 7 & 8 | ||
| 26 Apr | Fight in box | Eggs 9 & 10 | |
| 27 Apr | No more interest shown in box | Egg 11 | Chris roosted in the box overnight for the first time |
| 28 Apr | Egg 12 | ||
| 29 Apr | Egg 13 | ||
| 30 Apr | Egg 14 - partial incubation started at 4.20pm | FIRST EGG! (presumed, not seen!) | |
| 1 May | Egg 15 - incubation started around mid-day | Egg 2 (presumed - 1 seen) | |
| 2 May | Egg 16 - second female wants to incubate too! | Egg 3 (seen) | |
| 3 May | Egg 17 - both females now roosting in box overnight | Egg 4 (presumed). Fight in box. | |
| 4 May | Egg 5 (presumed) | ||
| 5 May | Egg 6 | ||
| 6 May | Egg 7 - incubation started | ||
| 7 May | Egg 8 - John feeds Chris in the box | ||
| 9 May | At least 19 eggs visible! | ||
| 12 May | No visitors since 26 April | ||
| 14 May | A female visitor - and a nesting wriggle! | Peaceful co-operation between the two females - well most of the time anyway! | |
| 15 May | New female, Poppy, continues building nest | ||
| 16 May | Roosting overnight FIRST EGG! (presumed, not seen!) |
First few eggs hatch (4?) | |
| 17 May | Egg 2 (presumed) | Several more eggs hatch | |
| 18 May | Egg 3 (only 2 seen) | Still only 8 eggs | |
| 19 May | Egg 4 (presumed) | Two eggs hatched first thing. Five chicks by the end of the day | |
| 20 May | Egg 5 | 8 chicks and 3 eggs visible | |
| 21 May | Egg 6 - partial incubation | ||
| 22 May | Egg 7 - incubation started | ||
| 23 May | Still just 7 eggs | The 8 chicks are now covered with grey down | |
| 24 May | Still just the 7 eggs Several visits from Patch, the male |
Eyes opening - is either female roosting? | |
| 25 May | No more visits from Patch | Neither hen bird is roosting in the nest box Chicks now quite black - eyes not yet opened |
|
| 26 May | All 3 parents in box together several times | ||
| 27 May | Chick explores outside the nest cup. Spikey appears to be incubating the unhatched eggs! | ||
| 28 May | First chick dies | ||
| 30 May | Second chick dies | ||
| 31 May | First observed wing flapping | ||
| 1 Jun | One dead chick finally successfully removed Again, three parents in box together |
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| 2 Jun | Second dead chick removed. Chicks plumage nearly completed |
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| 3 Jun | Eggs start hatching - by end of day there are four. Still no sign of the male (Patch) |
First chick fledged at 7.30pm | |
| 4 Jun | 6 chicks and 1 egg visible | Two chicks fledge early, two just before 8.30am The last one fledges at 8.46am |
|
| 5 Jun | Last egg hatched early in the morning Still no Patch |
Only one egg visible - where did all the unhatched eggs go? | |
| 6 Jun | 5 chicks alive early - 4 by evening | ||
| 7 Jun | 4 still alive early - 3 by evening | ||
| 8 Jun | Just 2 chicks still alive | ||
| 9 Jun | One chick alive first thing - Poppy losing interest Chick dead by the end of the day. |
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