We put up a Blue Tit neating box last Autumn and were pleasantly surprised to see it being assessed in early Spring and then thrilled to find out it is now host to a (rather noisy) little family.
There are 9 chicks in there and all seemingly doing really well. The parents are both ridiculously busy all day (mainly a mixture of caterpillars and suet) and their commitment amazes me.
I think they're approaching 2 weeks old now, so getting closer to them fledging. We have a resident Magpie that is often skulking about during the day, so I'm really hoping not to find the Somme out in my Garden one morning, however based on the diligence of their parents I think they're going to get the best possible start to life.
I have seemingly reached that age were I can happily sit and watch them flitting in and out (with the chicks going mad everytime mum and dad come back with more grub) so I'm considering getting a camera fitted, in the hope I can see what is going on inside. Does anyone have any experience or recommendation for any kit?
Question for the enthusiasts, do they parents both 'sleep' in the box overnight with the chicks?
Thanks,
Andy
Hi Andy,
I got my first camera fitted this year from the company Green Feathers, its brilliant with an app on your phone with live view of the nest! It also notifies you whenever there is movement (Which can get a bit much when theres loads of movement in the fledgling stage). It comes with loads of other features like playback -where it records the movement throughout the day for you to watch later- its been an awesome camera!
In reply to your other question, we have witnessed the parents sleeping with the chicks overnight in the early stages when they don't have feathers yet, as they grow more feathers we haven't seen the adults sleep with the chicks because they no longer need the warmth and as the chicks grow the room in the bird box shrinks.
Hope this helped,
Lilly
Hi Lilly,
Thanks for the advice, I'll have a look at green feathers cameras.
Yes, I suspected it must get a bit cramped (let alone noisy) in there.