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Post by matt on Apr 27, 2022 9:31:23 GMT
Great stuff Benn, my bluetit has also stopped at 9 as of yesterday - good number!
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benn
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Post by benn on Apr 27, 2022 11:16:51 GMT
Cheers Matt, I agree 9 is good, looking back on our records on the BTO "Nesting Neighbours" recording website our Great Tits had 11 eggs in 2015 and 2016 but then only 7 hatched and fledged.
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Post by WildlifePaul on Apr 28, 2022 12:29:25 GMT
Best of both worlds at your place Benn, Really lovely, How are the swift boxes going?
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benn
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Posts: 138
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Post by benn on May 2, 2022 9:30:04 GMT
Not too sure what is happening with our pair of Blue tits. There were at least 3 eggs last Tuesday. But since then the eggs have been covered There should be around 11 -12 eggs if the one per morning was maintained! There is lots of activity during the day but at night the female justs roosts in a corner of the box and does not expose the cup at night. She has not since last Tuesday. This morning I decided to interrogate the DVR and its been the same this last few nights with her roosting on top of the covered eggs. Then low and behold I discovered last Wednesday evening there was no female in the box overnight!!! I am beginning to suspect we have a new female who is bringing in feathers and new nest material this last few days and simply roosting on top of the nest for the time being. The original eggs must still be buried. If this is the case then our male must have had a second female on standby hence the big fight a few weeks ago. All very mysterious and confusing. I think I need to look more closely at the footage from and around last Wednesday! It is so difficult to make out individuals as this year they look so similar with no discerning features to tell them apart. Even the male is hard to differentiate.
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benn
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Posts: 138
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Post by benn on May 2, 2022 9:34:52 GMT
Best of both worlds at your place Benn, Really lovely, How are the swift boxes going? Sorry Paul just seen this. See Blue tit post above.....a mystery! Swift box entrances still blocked up to stop them being taken over by sparrows as three were last season. Fingers crossed the occasional interest shown last year with numerous fly pasts in June and July by yearlings will continue this year when I start playing the call recordings through the speakers. I wont unblock the entrances until later this month when the first swifts arrive in our local town.
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benn
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Post by benn on May 2, 2022 13:31:44 GMT
After an hour or so interrogating the DVR history from last week it has become clear that our initial suspicions of this morning were sadly proved to be correct On the morning of Wednesday 27th April at around 5:54am Lady Blue tit 1 leaves the box for the last time. This is the first video below. I can identify her by her eye strip on the left side of her face as there is a small downward black mark extending down. She did not return that day and there were no visits to the box. The nest remained empty all Wednesday night/ Thursday morning until 14:03pm in the afternoon. Then at that time the second video clip below shows the male enticing a different female Lady Blue Tit 2 into the box. Comparing the two clips one can see they are different birds. Since Thursday there has been a lot of activity during the day with the new female bringing in more fur and feathers and some straw. She roosts on top of the nest. It might be a week or so before this new female starts to lay eggs. We suspect the first eggs will remain buried deeper down but who knows? My wife says she saw the Sparrowhawk fly to the feeder last week so our guess is Lady Blue Tit 1 ended up as Breakfast that fateful morning! On a brighter note our Lady Great Tit has been incubating her 9 eggs since last Tuesday and the third clip is her hubby bring her an afternoon treat
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Post by pete11 on May 2, 2022 15:54:08 GMT
So sorry to read about the disappearance and the Sparrowhawk theory - I guess that's the BT's main source of danger. Although it's nature's way it doesn't make it any less of a tragedy when it happens. We had a Sparrowhawk in our vicinity a few years ago but not seen recently, so I'm crossing my fingers. Lovely to see your GT nest continuing, though. Good luck with that and hope it continues.
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Post by Ann70 on May 2, 2022 17:52:17 GMT
Hope things settle in the blue tit box and she lays eggs and goes on to have a successful outcome with a family of baby blue tits Looking forward to seeing the great tit chicks hatch and make good progress you are blessed with everyone’s dream of having blue tits and great tit nests at the same time
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benn
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Posts: 138
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Post by benn on May 2, 2022 20:09:39 GMT
As a late post today, we have had an influx of Redpolls and Siskins to the feeders, as I pressed reply to the post above a beautiful male Siskin flew into one of our back upstairs windows and broke its neck Checked it out as many others have recovered but it unfortunately had passed! So sad
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Post by pete11 on May 2, 2022 20:59:23 GMT
Oh Benn you're having terrible stuff to deal with today! Wishing you all the best.
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Post by Taz on May 3, 2022 8:34:49 GMT
So sad when they fly into the windows, we used to get that a lot with the Goldfinch, numbers down these days so get a lot less incidents.
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Post by WildlifePaul on May 3, 2022 15:55:49 GMT
Oh no Benn, I hope your second blue tit starts laying soon
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Post by sammi on May 5, 2022 13:05:42 GMT
Oh such a sad happening. I think we have only ever had one redpoll in our garden ages ago.
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benn
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Posts: 138
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Post by benn on May 5, 2022 15:41:48 GMT
Oh such a sad happening. I think we have only ever had one redpoll in our garden ages ago. Always sad Sammi, we get a few flying into our windows, mostly Goldfinches. About half are usually just dazed and recover after an hour or so. We seem to get Redpolls and Siskins every April and May, lovely colourful tiny finches.
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Post by suep on May 5, 2022 16:03:46 GMT
Hi Benn, so sorry to hear about BT . Your theory may well be right, however looking at the first clip of the three (which I am assuming is when she left the nest) it looks to me as though she is hopping and only using one leg. Don’t know if you have noticed this? The reason I am saying this is it happened to one of my blue tits once, where her legs got tangled in some kind of twine, and she hopped like this and kept trying to get the twine off. Maybe I am completely wrong, but this would have made her far more vulnerable. I so hope your new female brings you some new eggs and good luck with the great tits. Sue ps so sad about the poor little Siskin
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benn
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Post by benn on May 6, 2022 16:31:29 GMT
Hi Benn, so sorry to hear about BT . Your theory may well be right, however looking at the first clip of the three (which I am assuming is when she left the nest) it looks to me as though she is hopping and only using one leg. Don’t know if you have noticed this? The reason I am saying this is it happened to one of my blue tits once, where her legs got tangled in some kind of twine, and she hopped like this and kept trying to get the twine off. Maybe I am completely wrong, but this would have made her far more vulnerable. I so hope your new female brings you some new eggs and good luck with the great tits. Sue ps so sad about the poor little Siskin Hi Sue Yes, interesting thought! So it made me go back and look closely at the DVR recordings of her during the previous evening and morning of her before she disappeared. But no, she had two legs and when I examined her wakening the two previous mornings she did the same bouncy wake up thing! Sad really, Our new Lady two seems to be a yearling to me as she seems so much less experienced at building etc. I am not sure if this box is going to end up with a successful fledging, it just does not seem (feel) right in my many years of watching these little birds. On another completely unrelated front, yesterday in a back field to our house, we witnessed the wonderful birth of a foal! Something to behold! Her owner named her Chloe! Picture below.... i know its not birds but I could not resist! This picture was taken at 10 minutes old before she first stood up 20 minutes later! BTW her dad Basil who we feed carrots over the fence won his best in class as a show pony at horse of the year show last year (second picture)
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Post by Taz on May 6, 2022 17:48:35 GMT
Lovely story about the foal, a lovely thing to witness
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Post by Ann70 on May 6, 2022 19:11:42 GMT
Fantastic Benn, I would love a field with horses to look out on to, how lucky you are Thank you for sharing the event with us. Keep the pictures coming I for one would be interested in seeing more🐴
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Post by suep on May 7, 2022 9:47:38 GMT
What a beautiful thing to witness , and such amazing photos Benn. Sue
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benn
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Posts: 138
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Post by benn on May 9, 2022 15:16:53 GMT
Great Tits started hatching this morning . I have been offering mealworms this last week but they have no interest whatsoever and I am having to allow the Sparrows to polish them off before they spoil! Nothing to report on Blue tit nest with female number 2. Clip from this afternoon:
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Post by pete11 on May 9, 2022 16:36:11 GMT
'Great' news on the GTs That's a lovely video clip of the hatching - such good quality! Really interesting to see.
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Post by suep on May 9, 2022 18:17:22 GMT
Lovely to see great tits are hatching and amazing interaction between mum and dad, great video. Sue
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Benn 2022
May 9, 2022 23:10:38 GMT
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Post by Taz on May 9, 2022 23:10:38 GMT
Great news 🐦🐦
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Post by Ann70 on May 10, 2022 5:43:11 GMT
Great video Ben of mum and dad great to see a great tit nest on here this season Striking crisp colours on them. Look forward to the updates 😊
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Post by starling78 on May 12, 2022 17:14:16 GMT
Any news on the swift front Benn? I heard my first of the season today, wish I could encourage them to nest here but there is no active colony nearby
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