Come on, Charlie!

Charlie has made very few visits to feed Lola today. His last visit was around 2:35pm. It's not unusual behaviour, but I'm sure Lola could do with food being brought to the nest a little more often.

Some images from the nest camera today:

The third day of incubation. I wonder if birds experience boredom?

Head down, tail up. Lola turning the eggs.

Sixth Egg and Incubation Started

Lola laid her sixth egg this morning - and incubation has started. Great Tits typically incubate their eggs for 13-14 days, so we're probably looking at around 11-12 May for hatching (incubation can vary between 10 & 22 days though).

An early-morning empty nest shows the 6th, and probably final, egg
It looks quite cozy...
...and uncomfortable!
Blimey!

Fifth Egg!

Lola spent a lot of time at her nest today. This morning, she sat tight for over an hour and Charlie made three visits to feed her.

Overall, though, she has still spent most of the day away from the nest. And, for the first time, she left her eggs uncovered...

Five little speckled eggs!

Fourth Egg??

Lola was awake soon after 5am this morning, so she decided to have an early night.

Arriving at her nest at 6:40pm. That's quite some nest cup she's made!

Charlie must be close-by
There he is - with a snack for Lola


Time for a kip

A quick change in position and Lola shows three eggs - but did she lay a fourth today? This is the only shot revealing any eggs. She's doing a great job in keeping them covered!

What will we see tomorrow? Three, four or five eggs?

Third Egg!

There was only one view of the three eggs on the nest camera today, but unfortunately i-catcher wasn't recording at the time. Hopefully we'll get another clear view tomorrow.

Lola spent most of the day away from the nest again, just making a few short visits. Charlie has been around the garden quite frequently. It'll be his job to feed Lola while she's incubating.

The Olympic trampolining team were out in force early this evening while Lola was in her nest box - she was very reluctant to leave. It took her around ten minutes to eventually pluck up the courage to fly past them.

The natural light is bleaching the images quite a bit. I've tried altering some settings in the software but it's made no difference. Turning the lights off just gives a more grainy picture - the over-exposed bits are still there.

Second Egg!

Lola laid her second egg this morning - again, at around 6am.

She kept the egg well hidden until 7:20am when two eggs were just visible for a few minutes

She has been away from the nest box for most of the day, leaving the eggs covered by the wool. There were no visits at all between midday and 7pm.

Lola arrives to roost for the night

She gets some shut-eye

But a couple of minutes later she's gone again! This time, though, she left us with a better view of her two eggs

A Change from Nest Cam images!

A little change from nest box images...

It has been a very dull day today with on-and-off light rain and a blustery wind.

This male Blue Tit hung around near the kitchen window while his mate ripped apart some garden twine to take back to her nest (no sun, so rather grainy images today)

A Chiffchaff has been making frequent visits to the garden over the past two weeks



Charlie, our male Great Tit, calling to Lola while she's in the nest box
Goldfinch taking some wool for their nest

Male House Sparrow doing the same

Male Greenfinch
Jackdaw taking some dropped wool

First Egg!

As suspected, Lola laid her first egg this morning.

I've managed to pin-point the moment she laid it - 5:59am!This is the first decent shot of the egg

Lola sitting on her egg - but she's not incubating yet. She won't start incubation until she's laid the whole clutch. That way, all the eggs will hatch at roughly the same time (same day). Great Tits typically lay 8-13 eggs. We could see fewer, but hopefully not more!

Lola will lay one egg a day.

My guess is 6 eggs!

More from the Nest Camera

(Sorry, can't think of a title for this one!)

There has been a slight change in our female Great Tit's behaviour today which makes me think egg laying may be imminent.

Firstly, Lola had a lie-in today - well it is Sunday, after all! She left the box at 6:30am.

She made a quick succession of visits to the box this morning, but this time she fussed over the nest a lot more than she has been doing. She has also spent more time sitting in the nest cup.

During the early afternoon our neighbour decided to erect the world's largest trampoline in their back garden - and, unfortunately, they've placed it as close to our nest box as is possible. Their kids then spent the afternoon bouncing higher than the 6ft fence which divides our gardens. We didn't see Charlie or Lola from then on - which meant major panic from me! They are quite limited as to where they can place the trampoline due to lack of flat ground. Luckily the kids are at school for most of the day. I hope our Great Tits won't be put off.

So, as Charlie and Lola had been absent from the nest and garden for the longest amount of time so far, it was a bit of a relief to see them arrive at the nest soon after 7pm.

Here's a short sequence of captures (taken shortly after the lights were turned off)...


Lola arrives to roost almost an hour earlier than normal. She then looks like she's warning someone off. Charlie must be around!
He is, and for the first time he enters the nest box at roosting time. He's brought Lola some food.
He passes the food to Lola, and then exits the nest box immediately...

...leaving Lola to enjoy her snack - whatever it is! It was a very quick exchange - Charlie was in the nest box for just two seconds!

Will we see the start of egg laying tomorrow?

No Eggs Yet

A few more images from our Great Tit nest camera...

Much the same as yesterday, our female Great Tit Lola has continued to make a few short visits to her nest today. Again, she has brought a small amount of wool in each time.

So, some random captures from today (I'll try turning the lights down a bit tomorrow - they seem too bright now that there's more white in the box):

Snug as a Bug

Lola must have left the nest very early this morning as the camera failed to pick up her departure.

As the nest is now complete, she has only made a few brief visits through the day - each time bringing a tiny amount of fluff or wool with her.

Checking her nest over - and making sure no one else has moved in!

She has roosted again this evening - arriving at 7:47pm. Depending on your monitor, you should be able to make her out in the next two dark images. She got annoyed by some of the wool for a couple of minutes, and eventually moved it away from her face.

And she then soon tucked her head under her wing.

Lola Roosts

Lola has roosted in the nest box tonight for the first time. She arrived at 7:57pm and made herself comfortable before settling down for the night

Obviously a very dark image - I turn the lights off at 7pm.

Nest Complete?

Lola arrived at her nest bright and early again this morning.

She started to bring in the 'bedding'. She's using the wool I placed out in the garden with the moss.

A few acrobatics are performed...

And just fifteen minutes later things are looking very cosy. You can just make out the nest cup in the middle - that's where she'll lay her eggs.

I'm no expert in the art of nest building, but that looks pretty much complete to me. She'll probably bring more material in as everything gets trampled down.

Next stage: the eggs!

A Busy Day for Lola

Lola's earliest start so far today - she started taking moss and grass into the box at 6:12am.


By 8:50am her nest was filling out nicely.

Early afternoon and she was still making frequent trips to the box. This has been her busiest day so far. Charlie has been around for most of the day, too - but he stayed in the garden, calling to Lola frequently

Charlie calling to Lola


Late afternoon and Lola appears by the kitchen window with the first of the soft nesting material which will form the nest cup

Inside the nest box with the fluffy stuff. This was also her last visit of the day.

Looking good!

Progress!

Lola had another early start this morning - she was in the box just before 7am and started taking in nesting material straight away.

The next bout of activity came just before lunch time


Charlie arrived, and brought Lola a snack... covered in goo. What is that?
Lola has a quick peek out of the door

Admiring her workI think the bulk of what she's brought in today is just out of the camera's view

The lights were off by this time... Lola's last visit to her nest box for the day. She made a succession of trips to the box between 6:00pm - 7:15pm - each time taking dried grass, straw or moss in. I'm not 100% certain, but I don't think she roosted tonight.

Getting There... Slowly!

Lola put in an early appearance today when she arrived at the nest box at 6:50am. Charlie didn't arrive until 9:15am.

Lola brought a little more nesting material into the box throughout the morning but has spent most of the time in the box preening, resting and pushing the nest around the floor.

Lola preening her rather tatty tail feathers

That's better!

A little more nesting material

Some more moss

Getting there... slowly! This was her last appearance in the box today.

Wonder when she'll start roosting in there?

Not Much Progress

Charlie and Lola were in the nest box when I looked this morning

Charlie never stays for long, though. A quick kiss for Lola and he's off!

Lola seemed to spend more time resting today
Perhaps she wasn't in the mood for much nest building. She's brought in a little bit more moss and some straw.
For the past three days the Great Tits haven't returned to the nest box after midday.

At some point, if all goes well, Lola will return to the box each night to roost.

Official Moving-in Day!

Lola made a start on her nest this morning. She will be solely responsible for building it as male Great Tits are not involved in any part of the nest-building process.

This is Lola collecting some moss which I have placed out in the garden

And off she goes...

...to the nest box


Dried grass this time

...and some twigs from one of my Californian lilacs

Charlie arrives (he's on the right) and kisses the missus (actually, she had some mud stuck to her bill, and he removed it for her)

A bit more moss...

Charlie watches from the sidelines

Lola and her handiwork

Tempting Fate

Let's tempt fate a little by naming the Great Tits:

Meet Charlie

And Lola

It was a toss up between Charlie & Lola from the kids' books/TV show of the same name, and Charlie & Rebecca from the BBC1 series, Hotel Babylon!

Lola measures for carpets

A minute later and Charlie arrives...

...but Lola asks him to leave...
...more measuring!
Lola tests the flying trapeze before leaving the nest box
An hour-and-a-half later and they both return. Lola stays for around ten minutes before leaving
Two-and-a-half hours later and they are back

Lola hears Charlie calling from the garden
But the lights are more interesting!

Lola takes time to preen

She is constantly irritated by Charlie's presence

The last visit and image of the day is of Lola - she appears to have brought some dry grass into the nest box. I did think that I'd be returning to the computer in the evening to find a bit more nesting material, but this was all she brought in! I wonder if she'll get cracking on the nest this weekend?

Uh-oh!

The nest box had a five-minute visit this morning...

(no lights on in the box at this point - I *must* get up earlier!)

The male enters the nest box first, followed ten seconds later by the female. The male is the one crouched down.

The male remains crouched down while the female looks outside

The male exits, leaving the female alone

He's back again! I guess they like the place, then!
And he's gone again! The female thinks the camera looks interesting...
...and so goes for an extreme close-up...

...before going back down to the floor and performing a nesting wriggle. She likes the nest box!

Uh-oh! Another extreme close-up. This time she knocks the camera slightly out of focus
We can still see enough, though! Phew! This is the female again. She has just exited the box and returned with a caterpillar.

Yummy! She eats it (and she then did another nesting wriggle)

Not again! She has another good look at the camera...

...and leaves us with this:


A slight alteration to the camera is needed, I think! We need to remove the lid, focus the camera, and then see if the camera can be locked into position.

Next time, the lights will be on (and at the correct level!), and the camera will be in focus.

Honest!


Update:



The focus lock screw has been tightened and the camera has been re-focused. Hopefully we haven't scared the Great Tits off!

Another Viewing

Our prospective buyers returned for another viewing early this evening. Looking at the images, I had the lights too bright - so they've come down to half.

The male enters first
...and, like last time, waits for his mate
...looking for her through the entrance hole
...waiting patiently
...there she is! The swap-over was so quick that this is the only shot of them together
...the male beats a hasty retreat
...leaving the female to do another inspection



She examines the lights, and has a close-up look at the camera while she's up there.

Total visit length was around one-and-a-half minutes.

Pair of Great Tits Visit Nest Box

A pair of Great Tits were recorded visiting the nest box this morning.

The following images were captured before I'd turned the lights on in the box, so the quality isn't as good as the previous images from Wednesday.

The male enters the box first and looks back out through the entrance for his mate

He takes a step back, and waits for her arrival

She arrives after a few seconds...

...and the male exits the nestbox leaving the female alone to do an inspection...

Does she think it's big enough...?

and warm enough?

...checking the view is up to scratch

...spotting the camera for the first time

...examining the ceiling (no coving in here!) before she leaves the box

The whole visit lasted around two-and-a-half minutes.

Will the box be to her liking?

Will they be back for another viewing...?

BTO Garden BirdWatch 1-7 April 2007

1. Siskin (1)
2. Robin (1)
3. Greenfinch (7)
4. Goldfinch (6)
5. Chaffinch (12)
6. Woodpigeon (3)
7. Blackbird (2)
8. Blue Tit (box visit on Monday) (1)
9. Dunnock (1)
10. Starling (2)
11. House Sparrow (2)
12. Great Tit (box visit Weds) (1)
13. Wren
14. Song Thrush (1)
15. Collared Dove (2)

There have been no more visits to the nest box since the Great Tit on Wednesday. I have placed both moss and sheeps' wool in the garden to try and tempt them, but neither have been touched at all so far. Perhaps nest building is yet to commence north of the border!

Great Tit Visits Nest Box

First, I discovered i-catcher wasn't recording any motion in our nest box. After changing a few settings I found i-catcher was recording massive blocks of nothingness. And now, finally, I have found a happy compromise - with big thanks to Malcolm over at www.biggonline.co.uk for helping me find where I was going wrong, and how to fix it! I am now recording just motion in the box - which makes things so much easier when trying to find an actual visit!

Following the (unrecorded) visit from a Blue Tit on Monday, the box has now been visited by a Great Tit (I wonder how long these birds have been visiting? lol)

Will we have any takers?

This Great Tit (presumably male, looking for somewhere his mate will like) entered the box soon after 7am this morning.

BTO Garden BirdWatch 25-31 March 2007

1. Woodpigeon (3)
2. Robin (1)
3. Wren (1)
4. Siskin (2)
5. Goldfinch (6)
6. Greenfinch (12)
7. Chaffinch (20)
8. Blackbird (1)
9. Starling (2)
10. Blue Tit (2)
11. Blackcap ( 1 male)
12. House Sparrow (1)
13. Great Tit ( 1 - year tick)

Finally noted the first Great Tit of the year in the garden on Friday.