The signs are not good!

Well, after 7 consecutive years of success it looks as though 2009 could be our first fallow year.

Although Great tits visit the nest box regularly each day the nest-building process appears to have stalled. When you compare 2009 with previous years we should be looking forward to the first egg being laid any day now rather than contemplating when the birds are actually going to get around to some serious nest-building. Still, you never know, the Great tits might salvage something yet although being realistic the chances of this happening get slimmer by the day.

Ironically at No. 36 we also have another nest box in the garden with nesting Blue tits but no web cam; we know what we'll be doing before nest season!

Better late than never!

After a few days wondering whether any of our visiting Great tits or Blue tits would use the nest box this year, Mrs GT started nest-building this morning: phew, what a relief!

Click the play button on the video to view the event. The first tiny piece of moss is laid after ca. 28 sec during the video sequence.



Even though Mrs GT has started to nest-build it doesn't seem to have stopped the Blue tit from entering the nest box to see what's going on.

Slow Progress!

There is still no sign of nest-building within our bird box which is starting to cause some concern in the Damant household. Could this be our first fallow year where we have no nesting birds at all? We obviously hope not!

Lack of activity notwithstanding a Great tit continues to visit our nest box on a regular basis. We just hope that he/she will start nest-building soon!

Visiting Continues

Both Blue Tits and Great Tits visit the nest box on a daily basis; normally before 8 am.

This is similar behavior to what we've observed over the past 5-6 years where in our Ipswich garden the Great Tits start the nest-building process during the first week of April. However, this year a Blue Tit (well, we assume it is the same bird!) appears to be far more interested in the nest box than our normal Great Tits so perhaps this year we'll have different residents. Over the next few days we should have a better idea as to whether we'll have nesting 'Greats' or 'Blues' or possibly a fallow year.

We'll keep you posted!

Great Tits now visiting the nest box

A Great Tit now regularly visits the nest box. The bird is probably male but we cannot tell for certain without viewing the width of the birds chest stripe.

A Blue Tit also continues to visit the box on a daily basis.

The 2009 Season Begins

Welcome to the Badgers Bank Bird Box web site for 2009.

So far the Great Tits in our garden have shown absolutely no interest in the nest box. However, a Blue Tit (we think it's the same bird but cannot be sure) has been visiting the nest box on a regular basis. Will we get our first nesting Blue Tits? Only time will tell.

Our web cam is now active and can be viewed using the following IP address:

http://80.229.230.203/

Please email info@36badgers.co.uk for a username and password if you wish to view the web cam.

Fledging day!!!

Between 16:10 and 16:12 this afternoon the 3 Amigos fledged.

The first left at 16:10


The second at 16:12.


Closely followed by the third.


The nest box is now empty until next year.


UK GTs only lay one clutch of eggs per year (the continental race has two) so it is very unlikely we'll have a second clutch: however you never can tell!

The chicks are still in the nest box

The 3 amigos are still in the nest box but should fledge any day now. They're all very restless and periodically one takes a look outside through the entrance hole which is a good sign that they're ready the fledge.

Unlike this time last year the weather forecast for the next few days is good so once the chicks fledge they should have a few days of good weather in which to feed and fatten themselves up.

Only a few days more

The 3 amigos are just about ready to leave the safety of the nest box and enter the big wide world.

They're all fully equipped with their 'starter' flight feathers so all that remains is for them to pluck up enough courage and leave.

Test flight!

Both Mrs and Mr GT are risking life and limb taking food into the nest box owing to the chicks ravenous appetite and winner-take-all attitude!

The eldest chick (or the most developed) is now starting to test and exercise its wings: not the most sociable activity in such a confined space but hey-ho. Fledging is now less than a week away.

Not long now until fledging

Over the past 2-days the chicks have changed phenomenally. They now all have typical black caps, yellow breast feathers and a central black chest strip.

Both Mrs and Mr GT have been run-ragged feeding the 3 Amigos who will probably fledge sometime within the next week. It is amazing how the whole process from hatching to fledging only takes about 3-weeks. Although the chicks have grown feathers these are only 'starter' feathers to enable the chicks to fledge the nest quickly. The quality of starter feathers is quite poor so they'll be replaced over the coming summer and autumn with adult feathers through moulting.

According to the BTO website (http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob14640.htm) the survival rate for juvenile GTs is only 38% in their first year. There is also a measurable decline in brood size over the past few years but this years 3 is very low and we do wonder whether this is a result of last years poor breeding season.

It's all go now!

The 3-chicks are growing at a rapid rate of knots. All have visible wing feathers and little black caps typical of the GT. Both Mr & Mrs GT are bringing food on a regilar basis and we estimate that fledging should occur sometime over the coming Bank Holiday weekend.

Two of the three chicks are doing well, but we're unsure about the third

Two of the GT chicks appear to be doing really well whereas we rarely see the third and much smaller chick. It never ceases to amaze us how quickly the chicks grow bearing in mind they are now just 10-days old and have increased in size by at least an order of magnitude. All the chicks are starting to grow their starter feathers which will be replaced later in the year by new proper feathers.

Owing to technical difficulties we've had to take our video server off-line for the time being. All being well we're hoping to be able to continue to publish our blog because images are also saved on a standalone PC.

The 3 chicks are growing rapidly

Our 3 chicks are getting larger and fatter by the day. Although having only 3 chicks is rather disappointing they should all have a better chance of survival especially if food is limited.


Even Mr GT is doing his bit!

Only 3 chicks so far

Mr & Mrs GT have been busy all day bringing grubs, flies and the odd spider into the nest box to feed the new born chicks.

It looks as though this year the brood will consist of only 3 chicks which is the lowest number we've ever had.


Mrs GT continues nestle the chicks and the remaining 2 unhatched eggs even though the weather in Ipswich over the past few days has been glorious; lots of sunshine and warm days (ca 22C).

Hatching Day!

The first eggs of this years clutch hatched either yesterday evening or early this morning. Each year it's a real joy to see the new-born chicks which at this stage are very pink with large closed-eyes and have tufts of hair on top of the head.

The second egg hatched at 09:12 because Mrs Gt was caught eating the egg shell.



Even Mr GT is now starting to get more involved!


The 3rd chick hatched at around 14:00.


With our second horizontal camera we can now observe pictures of the chicks feeding.


Again, Mr GT is doing his bit by bringing Winter Moth grubs into the nest and passing them to Mrs GT who continues to incubate the remaining 2-eggs and keep the recently hatched chicks warm and cosy.

Mrs GT is still incubating her eggs

Mrs GT continues to spend nearly all her time incubating her clutch of 5-eggs. The eggs should start to hatch within the next few days.

Another busy day for Mrs GT

Mrs GT has spent practically all day incubating her clutch of 5-eggs.

The weather in Ipswich today has been typical for the time of year, that is April showers!

Incubation has begun

Contrary to yesterdays blog it appears as though Mrs GT is only planning to incubate 5-eggs this year. She now spends most of the day incubating the eggs with the occasional excursion from the nest to 'stretch her wings'. Each evening she nestles down into the nest after rolling herself into a fluffy pom-pom in order to keep warm. Although the day time temperature is starting to increase it is still quite cold during the night.

Egg-laying continues

Over the past few days Mrs GT has continued to lay eggs at a rate of ca. one per day. To date Mrs Gt has a clutch of 5 eggs but she should lay at least 1 to 2 more before she starts to incubate 'full-time'.


The weather today was wet and cold during the morning but quite sunny and warm during the afternoon. During this time Mrs GT has spent most of her time in the best box incubating her eggs and also periodically bringing in additional nest material. This included further fur donations from Wilf and Daisy.

Two Eggs Today!

We have at least 2 eggs in the nest-box. Mrs GT has been visiting the nest regularly throughout the day to gently incubate the eggs and also bring in additional nest material.

We Have at Least One Egg!

The above image is the first we have which indicates that we have at least one egg. Throughout the day Mrs GT has periodically been visiting the nest-box to check the egg(s) and also to bring in additional nest material.

Has Egg-Laying Started?

Mrs GT has spent a lot of time today pecking around the bottom of the nest and seems to periodically move something. From previous experience this is typical egg-laying behavior. If this is the case then Mrs GT is about 1-week early compared to previous years; mind you, everything seems to be early this year

Another Cold Day Here at Badgers Bank but a New Bird for the Garden List

After we thought the general day-time temperature was increasing with Spring around the corner we've had a rather cold day here at Badgers Bank with snow, sleet and hale showers. Nevertheless this didn't stop Mrs GT from collecting whatever nest material she could find. As in previous years we've been collecting combings from our 2 cats (Wilf and Daisy) and putting them in into an old peanut bird-feeder case in the middle of our garden.

Daisy








Wilf








Within a few minutes Mrs GT started to collect fur from the feeder taking it directly into the nest box where spent a happy 5-10 min moving it from corner to corner until she was happy. The fur from Wilf and Daisy is clearly visible from the image below.


Although today has been cold and snowy we did have a new bird to add to our garden list: a female Firecrest! Alison spotted the bird flitting around some conifers at the end of our garden. The Firecrest was probably moving-through but even so it is a really notable garden tick! We've been reliably informed that Firecrests are one of those UK species that is generally under-recorded.

Nest-Building is Progressing Nicely

The nest is now starting to take shape although it is still rather shallow in depth. Over the past few days Mrs GT has been extremely busy bringing moss into the nest box. A lot of the moss came from our house roof which is literally covered in the stuff.

Mrs GT is also now starting to make the nest cup though rapid wing beating but at the moment all this seems to achieve is spray nest material around the box.


The weather here in Ipswich is now starting to improve although we are expecting another cold-snap over the coming weekend.

Nest-Building has Started!

Early yesterday morning our GTs started nest-building with some small pieces of moss.



By this morning extra moss had been brought into the nest-box although at the moment it is still 'early days'. In previous years we've found that initial nest-building is very slow and only really ever speeds up just before the female starts to lay her eggs.

A few days ago the Times newspaper published an interesting article on garden birds.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3621612.ece

The article reports how finch numbers in Britain have reached their highest level for 5-years. Apparently, many gardens (not ours I hasten to add!) now have regular visits from both Redpoll and Brambling. Numbers of Goldfinch have allegedly increased owing to the increased number of garden niger seed feeders.

Winter Finally Arrived Today

Winter finally arrived at Badgers Bank today where we had ca. 1" of snow during the morning. This then promptly disappeared during the afternoon. Oh well, I suppose we will have a proper winter one day!

On the plus-side, one of the GTs brought a small piece of material into the nest box early this morning. Even though this amounted to nothing more than a 1 cm piece of dried grass it is a start; acorns, oaks and all that! Unsurprisingly, activity within the nest box today has been sporadic owing to the weather.

Lots of Activity Today and a New Bird for the House List!

Despite the cold weather both Mr & Mrs GT have been visiting the nest box regularly throughout the day. At one point this morning Mrs GT spent 10 minutes within the box pecking around and generally inspecting every corner.

We had a new bird for the house list today, a pair of fieldfare.