Lots of activity in my garden and, with all the nesting activity, I thought it would be good to set up some experiments with nesting material… It’s always great watching the birds on these whisks, packed with nesting materials. They always love Bryn, my dog’s fur nest and I often see the nests lined with this lovely soft fluff-like fur….
When I filmed for CountryFile Diaries in the winter, I made a small pool from a recycled tree with paul Martin. I set a camera there this week to see how it was being used…. here are a couple of clips that confirm to me that it is always worthwhile setting up a small waterhole space like this somewhere in the garden! #gallery-18039-1 { margin: auto; } #gallery-18039-1 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-18039-1 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-18039-1 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
This weekend, I noticed a female blackbird leave a space in my blackthorn hedge. taking a peek, I found a nest with eggs! I had a spare camera and , whilst she was gone, I quickly fitted it in place. It will be lovely to follow this new family. I haven’t had a camera on a blackbird nest for a few years now.
Finally, I have three camera nest boxes with blue tits in this year. The top two videos are of my HandyKam IP camera nest box. She has made the most comfy nest I have ever seen! She is leading the way, with a number of eggs now laid.
This is my Hub nest box. This is the camera that is now live streaming on my website and with CJ Wildlife. They will be laying very soon!
It’s hard to keep up with everything that is happening… I just love this time of year…..