benn
Senior Member
Posts: 138
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Post by benn on Mar 21, 2022 12:20:31 GMT
Hi All
Thought I would post again this year. We spent February in Goa and then last week I was at Cheltenham races all week. On returning my wife Hazel said had been a lot of activity in our wall blue tit box. We had a successful nest in there last year and a female rooster all winter so no surprise there.
However, on turning on the cameras this morning for the first time this year we saw this!
Now the amount of moss is completely unexpected. This nest is probably 5-6 weeks in advance of previous years given our elevation. What happened next was surprising. Now are there two females or two pairs competing?
Next up we have a Sparrow box that no Sparrow has ever been near. However, for the last two winters it has been used by a Male Blue Tit as roost, hence a lot of droppings. This morning we saw this Great Tit busy removing the droppings:
So certainly things look promising. No Starlings, Blackbirds or Robins for us this or last year by the looks of things.
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Post by WildlifePaul on Mar 21, 2022 12:47:34 GMT
ABOUT TIME YOU CAME BACK BEN!! Welcome back That is alot of material Ben, Like you said you are normally getting building abit later than most of us aren't you? you'll have to see how that goes! Lovely its your side box too Can you access that sparrow box easy Ben? Might be worth giving it a clean yourself might make it abit more appealing to the GT Nice having your back though
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Post by matt on Mar 21, 2022 13:59:54 GMT
Welcome back Benn!
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Post by suep on Mar 21, 2022 16:37:46 GMT
Wow Benn, that certainly is a well advanced nest, and that fight makes me think that two females have both been building - maybe unaware of the other until ‘that fight’. Certainly all going on for you - good luck. Sue
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benn
Senior Member
Posts: 138
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Post by benn on Mar 24, 2022 10:57:22 GMT
Thanks All
Certainly very advanced for this time of year. It will be interesting to see when eggs are laid.
I might attempt to clean out that Great Tit box but its quite high up and as I get older my vertigo seems to get to me more. The female is gradually cleaning it out but the male blue tit is still roosting there. I reckon another scrap will take place if the Great Tits start building.
Meanwhile our Blue Tits are still hard at the nest building!
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Post by Amanda on Mar 24, 2022 16:40:35 GMT
Wow! They are really eager! Lovely to see you back Benn
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benn
Senior Member
Posts: 138
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Post by benn on Mar 26, 2022 14:10:08 GMT
I managed to climb the ladder Thursday to clean out the Sparrow box of the excess droppings though the female Great Tit had removed quite a bit.
A small video from yesterday below showing the Male inviting his Mrs into the box for an inspection. We are currently getting 3 or 4 of these per morning so fingers crossed.
Our male blue tit is still using the top ledge of the box near the opening to roost, so I guess a conflict will ensue if the female Great Tit builds and starts to roost. Both these boxes are located on the wall on the same north facing wall though the sparrow box is very high half way up to the apex. I think the tits prefer the safety of boxes attached to walls..... in our garden anyway.
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Post by karenupnorth on Mar 27, 2022 7:47:20 GMT
Thats a cosy nest she has made and fingers crossed the GTs choose your box, looks real promising
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benn
Senior Member
Posts: 138
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Post by benn on Mar 27, 2022 10:51:11 GMT
A fairly eventful evening and morning in the Sparrow Box. After a fairly quiet day of occasional inspections by the Great Tits, I was surprised to see the female Great Tit enter the box at around 18:20pm yesterday evening to roost for the first time. Then about 20 mins later our Male Blue Tit entered to roost. The first video is of that moment and the Great Tit is not happy. However, after 10 mins of her snapping and jumping, both birds curled up in their places and went to sleep for the night until around 5:30 am this morning. Both birds were awake at dawn and simply watched each other for a time. Then the Blue Tit stupidly decided to jump down into the box from the entrance ledge (something he has not done before). The second longer video is what ensued. There is no sound stream from this box and the low light means only B&W IR picture. Happy to report that we have heard our Male Blue tit singing this morning and the Great Tit has returned a few times too!
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Post by suep on Mar 27, 2022 14:21:36 GMT
Wow Benn, they were really going for it - hope there is a happy outcome. Sue
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benn
Senior Member
Posts: 138
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Post by benn on Mar 27, 2022 21:01:12 GMT
Happy to report that "all quiet on the Western front" tonight. Both our occupied nest boxes have roosting females and our male Blue Tit has found a different roosting spot!
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Post by pete11 on Mar 27, 2022 23:19:56 GMT
That's quite a scrap! They really do go for each other - feathers flying everywhere! Hope they're both ok. Makes me feel fortunate that my GT just disappeared from roosting almost as soon as my BT had brought the first material in.
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benn
Senior Member
Posts: 138
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Post by benn on Apr 2, 2022 9:01:06 GMT
Our Blue Tit has continued to bring in wool and hair even through the cold snap. The Great Tit female continues to roost and visits the Sparrow box a few times each morning to carry out some wiggles. Just over an hour ago she brought in her first moss. Videos below
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Post by Ann70 on Apr 2, 2022 9:51:27 GMT
Hi benn Great to have both nests good luck for great tits to continue with the nest 🤞🏻☘️
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Post by sammi on Apr 2, 2022 13:35:36 GMT
Hi Benn Wow things are really hotting up at yours. I'm glad everything was sorted out and no serious injuries were received The bluetit nest is looking ready for eggs already.
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Post by pete11 on Apr 2, 2022 13:38:22 GMT
Great to have a double whammy! Great tit nest will be really interesting to see. Good luck with them both
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benn
Senior Member
Posts: 138
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Post by benn on Apr 9, 2022 10:27:14 GMT
Not much action this week. Our Blue Tit has more or less finished her nest and spends most of her time pecking away at the entrance hole! Regular visits by our Female Great Tit and on Wednesday morning brought in quite a bit of moss. Since then things have slowed with Thursdays rain and the very cold weather yesterday and today. Some clips from this morning below
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Post by pete11 on Apr 9, 2022 10:55:13 GMT
My BT has been spending inordinate amounts of time fussing about with feathers and fluff over the last week. The basic nest doesn't seem to change much and a lot of her activity has seemed a bit random! Judging by everyone else's posts, it seems everyone's playing a bit of a waiting game. Nice to see your GT nest taking shape, too!
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Post by WildlifePaul on Apr 10, 2022 13:01:39 GMT
Amazing ben! Best of both worlds
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benn
Senior Member
Posts: 138
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Post by benn on Apr 18, 2022 11:21:09 GMT
Nothing much to report. Our Blue tit and Great Tit females continue to line their nests with copious amounts of lambs wool from the new lambs in an adjacent field. The Great Tits have caught up to the Blue Tits who have now been building for nearly 6 weeks! I really did think both were laying eggs when I looked back over the footage around 6am this morning but there is nothing I can glimpse unless they are well buried. I think we have Blackbirds, Wood Pigeons and Dunnocks nesting in our Ivy but I cannot spot the nests and frustratingly suspect they are all located in the thick dense ivy on the other side of the back fence! So not much chance of fixing a spare camera on them
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benn
Senior Member
Posts: 138
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Post by benn on Apr 21, 2022 12:59:21 GMT
Looks like our Great Tit started her laying the morning after my last post. Both hers and Mrs Blue Tits are so good at hiding their eggs! This is the few seconds I have managed to locate after perusing the DVR for ages.
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benn
Senior Member
Posts: 138
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Post by benn on Apr 26, 2022 8:04:48 GMT
9 eggs for lady Great Tit today, Also lady Blue Tit also looks like she has 3 eggs in the video? Only downside to sideview is it is harder to see eggs.
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Post by suep on Apr 26, 2022 8:21:33 GMT
Brilliant Benn, Sue
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Post by pete11 on Apr 26, 2022 16:32:31 GMT
All looking good... lovely to see how the GT and BT nests compare. They share quite a few similarities by the looks of things.
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benn
Senior Member
Posts: 138
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Post by benn on Apr 27, 2022 9:03:57 GMT
I think Lady Great Tit has stopped at 9.
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