Thought I would squeeze in a quick update from my patch! I have been really busy over the last few weeks and, although I have been watching my cameras and my jackdaw nest is live streaming, I simply have not had time to upload and publish the videos. This can be quite a time-consuming task, as I have to go through the footage, upload the clips I want, transfer them across to my Mac, edit and watermark them and then upload them onto YouTube. I really could do with an extra few days to my week!
I have uploaded a few clips from the best footage and boxes to give a flavour of where we are at. Once incubation is complete and we have some chicks, I will be uploading daily footage to show how quickly these chicks grow!
My favourite box this year, is one by Wildlife Windows and the image in the box is super. My blue tit has built in a perfect position and the focus is just right. It is difficult to predict as they can build quite deep nests and sometimes nesting materials go over the camera….. this can be really frustrating!
This first clips shows the first view of the eggs. They are very well hidden, but I think we have about eight now.
This clip is from today… the male is coming in to feed her as the female is now incubating.
My jackdaws are now sitting on 5 eggs in my Squirrel Studio Box. Next year, this box will be set up with an HD camera, as it has proved to be quite a popular box! Incubation is about 20 days and my female has been incubating for about a week now. You can watch this box live on the front page of my website.
Finally, my foxes are still visiting regularly and, very soon, we should see some cubs visiting. Every night, I get two vixens visiting who I think are siblings. They are both feeding cubs. One has taken to sometimes making an early morning visit… a real treat!
I’m looking forward to getting some good footage from my cameras this year… every year I try to save up and upgrade one. The technology and capabilities of the cameras mean I am always striving to go that little bit further to capture better quality footage from the previous year. It is as exciting as ever and I never tire of watching the unfolding stories of the bird families in my patch!