Blue tits

Discussion in 'Pets Corner' started by JAYMZ, Apr 8, 2015.

  1. JAYMZ

    JAYMZ Registered Users

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    So my wife bought me a nesting box with a wifi camera for Christmas! I was supposed to set it up early Feb for the birdies to check it out and decide if they wanted to use it.

    There was also a hanging feeder and the camera could interchange between the two. I used the feeder/camera over Christmas and winter and it was brilliant. We had all kinds of birds - some, like a bright red Bullfinch, I'd never even seen before. It was great.

    So great that I forgot to set the nest of up!

    I finally did it towards the end of Feb/early March.

    I really rushed it, and didn't give the positioning much thought. I thought it was too late and I'd missed the window of opportunity. My wife was very cross!

    Every now and again, whilst working at my pc, I open up the camera and see the bottom of an empty box.

    That was until a few days ago! A couple (literally, a couple) of sticks appeared. Then all was quiet for a few days. Then the same sticks had moved in th box. Must've been the wind.

    And then, this morning there was loads of moss in it! I set the camera to record and I've caught a pair of Bluetits coming in and out. Strangely one seems to bring stuff in, and the other takes stuff out. Maybe they've got a similar relationship to my wife and I, that if I buy home decor (yeah right!) she takes it back for something better!

    I did read that it was the females that build nests, so I didn't expect to see two birds. At some points they're in there together, but they could be rivals?

    Anyway, very exciting!

    I have some footage from the camera that I'll try to edit and get some stills. Hopefully one of them will stick around and we'll have some eggs and chicks. Apparently they lay a lot! :)
     
  2. Kirriegirl

    Kirriegirl Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    Cool. You can have your own personal Springwatch :)
     
  3. JAYMZ

    JAYMZ Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    [quote author=Kirriegirl link=topic=10501.msg155159#msg155159 date=1428492497]
    Cool. You can have your own personal Springwatch :)
    [/quote]

    Saying that, we did also go round to the farmer next door over the weekend to see his British Blue cows that are calfing! Stunning creatures!
     
  4. Merla

    Merla Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    Fantastic! I've always fancied one of those, but we inherited some cats a few years ago and the desirability of our property from a bird perspective has plummeted since :(

    You realise that by posting you've now committed yourself to providing regular updates and screen-shots of crucial events ;D ;D

    Look at the Ducklings thread- if it all works out we'll be fighting to name the chicks!
     
  5. JAYMZ

    JAYMZ Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    Its a deal!

    (Ps, we have three cats and our neighbours also have three! The farmer has about eleventysixbillion random farm cats too! The birds don't seem to mind! Maybe Essex birds are tough?!)
     
  6. JAYMZ

    JAYMZ Registered Users

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  7. Kirriegirl

    Kirriegirl Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    Great - full technicolour too! I wonder what the little dance at the end was all about?
     
  8. tartanmouse

    tartanmouse Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    That's beautiful. I don't know why, but I love that I can hear them pottering around in there too!
     
  9. Karen

    Karen Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    I need one of those cameras!!
     
  10. JAYMZ

    JAYMZ Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    I did a bit of reading and it sounds like it's only females who build the nests. So in the second video, when there are two, it's unlikley they are a couple. You can hear them tweet at each other. Probably one saying get orf my laaaaand!

    The moss at the bottom of the box slowly built up during the day, and then reduced, and built up and reduced. I think there's less in this evening than what was there this morning.

    It's difficult to tell the two apart. I does look like one has a little notch in its tail feathers, but I'm not 100%.

    Wish I had a second camera outside the nest so I could see them going in and coming out.
     
  11. Kirriegirl

    Kirriegirl Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    I can see this is an addiction already ;D How many work hours will be lost over the next few months? ;) ;D
     
  12. Oberon

    Oberon Supporting Member Forum Supporter

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    Re: Blue tits

    That's great!! I hope they come to some arrangement and manage to build a nest and find a bloke!
     
  13. drjs@5

    drjs@5 Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    That's brilliant!

    I remember losing a lot of time to osprey chicks courtesy of RSPB nest-cam at Loch Garten a few years back.......
     
  14. Kirriegirl

    Kirriegirl Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    I did that with the PuffinCam in Shetland :-[ ;D
     
  15. JAYMZ

    JAYMZ Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    I had to get up at 4.30am to go to work today and was in no fit state to set the camera. So no action from today, but this is the current state of the nest (as of right now). It seems one of the birds has won the battle. I did get a bit cocky this afternoon and when I spotted her outside, on a bush with some moss in her beak, I tried to watch her go in, but she must've spotted me and stopped on top of the nest box and flew off instead of going inside. I hope I've not scared her away.

    [​IMG]
     
  16. Merla

    Merla Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    Ooh, exciting! Fingers crossed :)
     
  17. Oberon

    Oberon Supporting Member Forum Supporter

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    Re: Blue tits

    Now that's looking pretty serious!!!
     
  18. JAYMZ

    JAYMZ Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    Well, this is turning into a bit of an Eastenders episode with all the drama!

    Yesterday, apart from a small flurry for about an hour early in the morning, the Blue Tits didn't do very much. And they didn't come back.

    This morning, not much happened. The nest didn't look like it had been visited.

    I took Monts out for a run and came back and switched on the PC. As the picture appeared on the screen, a big black head was poking into the nest! I immediately thought it was a Magpie, Crow or Jay as we have loads here, and ran down to the kitchen where I can see the nest. It wasn't one of the predators, and was a tit. And there were actually two of them.

    Back on the pc screen I could see one inside, and then both. But they looked really different. They were a little bigger and had big black heads. They were Great Tits and were having a real chatter to each other inside and outside the box. I got it recorded and it's uploading.

    So, I'm feeling a little sad for the Blue Tits, who it seems have had their nest nicked yet again. I watched the new residents for a short while and then turned the recording off (I still get footage and sound but its not saved).

    Whilst browsing the internet with the camera still on in the background I suddenly heard a commotion. I closed down the internet and went back to the camera to find a Blue Tit. But I think it might be a differnt one, as it has a dark splodge on her face.

    There's obviously a bit of a turf war going on out there.

    Currently, as I type this, the Blue Tit is still there.

    I'll keep you updated... (and will post the Great Tit conversation once it's uploaded)

    It's all really fascinating. I might get a bigger box for next year. Maybe I'll get a Golden Eagle, an Ostrich or a Penguin or something equally cool? :p (joking aside, I did see a box especially for owls... now that would be awesomesauce!)
     
  19. MaccieD

    MaccieD Guest

    Re: Blue tits

    We were visited last year by owls teaching their young to fly and hunt. They would land on a row of hedging and you could watch the owlets bouncing up and down and flapping wings madly to take off. Once airborne they used the top of our garden as their flight path and were swooping around and then in to the farmers field behind us ;D
     
  20. JAYMZ

    JAYMZ Registered Users

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    Re: Blue tits

    Oh that's so cool.

    We hear loads here, and the often fly overhead squawking, but I don't think I've ever seen one in the wild.
     

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