Live Stream of my Bird Box - Bluetits Nesting - Chicks Hatching Now

Nazbit · 19 May 2020 at 12:16

Stream is back.

Router seemed to grind to a halt. Had a very patchy 3mbps dropping connections all round the house. Getting 66 after a reboot.

Then after rebooting Xsplit was corrupt and wouldn't load.

This is what I mean about the streaming being much more work than I expected!

She's out at the moment. Chick looks ok.

Nazbit · 19 May 2020 at 12:21

@saddler Like the videos. Second one is funny, not what I thought was going to happen.

I live in a rural area now and have only seen a hedgehog in the garden once since I've been here. When I used to live in a city suburb we used to have loads of them.

Do you have any problems with rodents putting that food out? We have the odd field mouse in the garden which is to be expected. One of our neighbors lives in pure filth though and we have to be careful not to attract (their) rats with our bird food.

Nazbit · 19 May 2020 at 14:44

Anyone watching? A sparrow has taken an interest in box three and is trying to fight scruffy everytime she comes near to get on her own box.

Nazbit · 19 May 2020 at 15:15

Sparrow came and showed a lot of interest in box three but didn't actually step inside so she came out to see what all of the noise was about.

Her presence provoked an immediate attack from the sparrow for some reason.

Then another sparrow turned up but didn't join in the fighting.

Fighting then went on for sometime every time scruffy tried to approach her nest box the sparrow either dive bombed her or was already waiting on one of the other perch holes.

Most of the time it was the sparrow that was the aggressor but she did come back for revenge while his head was inside the second box.

The sparrows cannot enter box one due to the narrowing plate but obviously she doesn't know that and she isn't taking that chance! At one point she was inside with the chick and the sparrow landed on the entrance hole and peered inside and she chased him but the noises out of them both at that point were pretty awful!

Not seen any interest from the sparrows previously. Never had footage of them inside any of the boxes and they didn't enter this time either but they were very interested.

Don't think the sparrows are looking for a nest because their nesting season is well under way if anything its ahead of the blue tit season. We are expecting to see some fledgling sparrows in the garden this week.

Nazbit · 19 May 2020 at 16:19

In all of this fighting it's been a long time now since I've seen her feed the chick. She's too preoccupied with defending the nest.

On the plus side she's starting to realise the sparrow can't get in through the narrowing plate so she can just sit there and calmly peck him in the face.

Mason- · 19 May 2020 at 16:53

Can you poke some food into the nest? I know she has rejected it in the past, but it's getting desperate.

Nazbit · 19 May 2020 at 16:55

I guess I can try but I don't think she will use them.

Plus I think that chick now looks too weak to take them from her.

Mason- · 19 May 2020 at 16:58

SHe's just gone out. Really needs to bring back some food, and quickly.

mrgubby · 19 May 2020 at 17:04

Our chicks fledged today , they all left the nest between 6:00 & 6:03. Only 3 out of 9 made it to fledging

Mason- · 19 May 2020 at 17:08

mrgubby said:
Our chicks fledged today , they all left the nest between 6:00 & 6:03. Only 3 out of 9 made it to fledging

Blue **** too?

Minxy · 19 May 2020 at 19:17

That poor Mummy bluetit is having a really rough time isn’t she. Did you manage to put any food in the box?

Nazbit · 19 May 2020 at 19:31

Yeah I dropped some in a few hours ago. When I tried this previously she removed it all. This time she ate it herself which makes me think she's also hungry.

Popped a little more in just before even in case it just helps her rather than the chick.

Since the sparrow incident at 3pm I believe the chick had had two catapillers and two peanut butter. That's not much at all for getting on for five hours.

As far as I know she's not eaten herself at all in that period.

Nazbit · 19 May 2020 at 19:33

As we speak she's just eaten a couple so she's definitely hungry. That's not what she would have done a few days ago.

Minxy · 19 May 2020 at 19:40

Well done on trying to keep her fed.

ThriceNightly · 19 May 2020 at 21:06

can you see that **** sparrow off with a water spray gun? i notice they can be aggressive with blue **** nesting in the vicinity

mrgubby · 19 May 2020 at 21:38

Mason- said:
Blue **** too?

Yes, blue tats

Yaayuh! · 19 May 2020 at 21:57

Great thread @Nazbit

I’ve wanted to do this for a while, we always have a plethora of birds to house. Maybe I’ll give it a go next year.

Currently have at least 2 starling nests and 3 house sparrow nests in our soffits. Got a load of fledglings around at the moment so seems to have gone well again this year. We’ve also got a wren nesting in an ornamental nest box (it’s a hat) that we never thought anything would use.

We have blue ****, great ****, goldfinch, robins, wagtails and blackbirds nesting nearby and hanging around the feeders

sometimes get visits from greenfinch and a woodpecker, I heard a cuckoo the other day too. First time around here.
Not bad considering the amount of birds of prey around; Red kites, buzzards, kestrels and a sparrowhawk that uses our garden as its dinner table.. lol.

saddler · 19 May 2020 at 22:45

Nazbit said:
@saddler Like the videos. Second one is funny, not what I thought was going to happen.

I live in a rural area now and have only seen a hedgehog in the garden once since I've been here. When I used to live in a city suburb we used to have loads of them.

Do you have any problems with rodents putting that food out? We have the odd field mouse in the garden which is to be expected. One of our neighbors lives in pure filth though and we have to be careful not to attract (their) rats with our bird food.

My two have survived another day, though one is definitely more dominant that the other.

Regarding the Hedgehogs, yes the food can attract vermin, though it's only been wood mice in my case and they're no bother. I never leave food out for long and only when I know hedgehogs are around to eat it.

I have had rats in the garden coming for the bird food in the past so I adapted all my feeders to avoid any seed spilling on the ground. The neighbors cats love to visit my garden and they're very effective at keeping rats away.

Nazbit · 20 May 2020 at 08:46

Morning,

Day 39 can you believe that?

The remaining chick is still alive this morning. However I've only seen her bring back food twice since she woke up. On both occasions she managed to being back a BIG caterpillar but eventually ate them both herself after failing to feed them to him.

So I've not seen him take in any food so far. He will open is mouth for her but isn't as alert as he has been in the past. Think she really needs to get him fed this morning.

Forecast today is for a considerably warmer day than the last few so not sure what role that will play.

Narj · 20 May 2020 at 08:51

I think I'd be caterpillar hunting in the garden about now, although I know that's interfering

Fingers crossed!