Over the past few days the Great Tits had been making more frequent and longer visits to the camera nest box so I was hoping it would be chosen again this year. Mid afternoon Monday saw the female Great Tit start fetching material to build a nest. This is a cut down version of some of the activity. Sometimes she would spend five minutes pushing the material around the bottom of the box. At one stage the male nearly got dive bombed as he was blocking the entrance to the box when she returned. As the female is the one with new feathers growing on her head it is easy to spot which is which.
This photograph I took last year after the youngsters had flown the nest will give an idea of how much work there is yet to do in making a cosy nest.
Just a quick visit was made by both to the box yesterday but a few rain showers seemed to put an end to nest building for a while. Heavy rain today so it will be a while before suitable nest building material will be available again.
Fascinating to watch John.
ReplyDeleteIt is Roy. I get nothing done when there is action in the box.
DeleteHi John,
ReplyDeleteGreat to watch, and good to see that you have nesting great tits again this year. Hopefully all goes well for them this year. We haven't had any luck with our nest box this year, with no birds even really showing any interest. Having said that, there was a great tit pair looking as though they were still looking for a nesting site before we left to go on holiday, so it might not be too late just yet. Although if there are no changes to the box by the time we get back, that'll probably be that to be honest.
I hope you find some residents in your box when you get back from holiday.
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DeleteThis was a duplicate copy of your comment Joe and Blogger is playing silly billies with me.
DeleteSuper! Nice to see that nesting is underway. It's hard to believe a year has gone by since the last nesting process. Good luck to the new family as they start out...and thanks for sharing the videos and info.
ReplyDeleteThey say as we get older the days get longer and the years get shorter Glo.
DeleteThings seem to be progressing well so far.