From that first peep through the entrance into my Sitting Room nest box, I have been keeping my fingers crossed that the blue tits would choose this box to raise a family. After all the planning and building, the camera positioning and focus is looking good, but that is where my control ends and I just have to wait and pray that they go the birds to go in.
The blue tits did lots of looking initially and they really seemed to be deeply thinking about whether this was a suitable place to raise a family… was the wallpaper to their liking? Was that bookshelf their style?
This box has been purpose-built for this project. It is larger than a ‘normal’ nest box to accommodate the camera and the contents. I carefully chose and positioned the items in the nesting space so they would not offer any hazards to a growing family. They are all securely glued down and most are made of paper, cardboard and wood. In fact, many natural nesting spaces would be considerably smaller and offer more hazards than this nest box!
It was obvious that the blue tits liked the space and the pair started to bring moss in…. and quite a lot of moss!
The ‘fluttering’ with the wings and the turning helps to start to create the centre and compact the moss down to form the nest.
It was soon looking very cosy in there..
This footage has been very well received on Twitter and the clip I put up, at this time, has had over 200,000 impressions! I am SO hoping they continue to build…. although I still have a hunch that it is the same pair who are building in my hub nest box! This sometimes happens when they find a couple of good sites and cannot seem to decide between them. I have done all I can, so it is just a matter of waiting and hoping for them to finally decide on this box to raise their family as it is going to create some great footage!
Meanwhile, in the Hub box, there has been a lot of action and the nest os coming on beautifully!
The second of my Sitting Room nest boxes is getting a few visitors… I have not given up hope on this one yet…
My blackbird is sitting firm on her eggs. These are only a 2 week incubation, but I am not sure how long she has been there. The male pops by sometimes, but is not impressed to find the eggs have not hatched yet…
There will be more updates throughout the week, so keep an eye out on my live cameras, showing the Sitting Room Box and the Hub Box. I may switch to the Blackbird as well, when her eggs hatch. Updates are also on Twitter… just follow @katemacrae.