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Hi everyone
Ive had a male sparrow roosting in my nestbox all winter. The last week or so I have noticed that the sparrow has a female mate, who has also been going into the nestbox. This morning I took a look to see if theres any activity going on, and both the male and female were in the box together, seemed to be just staring at each other LOL, theres also bits of nesting material that they have started collecting in there. I was so excited.
I have been keeping my tv on so that I can hear when they enter the box, and they are both coming and going, but not sure if its my lack of experience, or wether this is normal behaviour......but the male comes into the nestbox, and is very vocal, and he wont shut up until the female comes......however when the female comes into the box, the male seems agitated and then the female starts pecking him like mad......poor sparrow.....then he flies off......but the female just sits there and tweets now and then, as if shes waiting for him to come back. Is this the usual behaviour of a pair of sparrows?? I am really hoping so, because Im really hoping to see baby birds this year.
Here are some pics I took earlier, not brill quality.
The female is still in the box now as I write!!
bekky
Sound's like it was his winter roost and now she fancies it for nesting, just not with him :)
It's both what you do and the way that you do it!
You cannot fly like an eagle with the wings of a wren. William Henry Hudson (1841 - 1922)
mpiekp said: Sound's like it was his winter roost and now she fancies it for nesting, just not with him :)
aww I was hoping they were a pair. Hey mpiekp have you noticed Redkites around us lately? I used to see one now and again up around the sports centre, but I saw one yesterday and again today flying directly above my garden. I rushed out yesterday and had the perfect opportunity to get a good photo of it in flight, but becasue I was so flustered trying to get a good pic I messed it right up LOL.......the photo I took was awful, nevermind I will try again!!
Yep Yep they pass over almost every bright day, and have been since about July last year.
They are very difficult to snap, apart from at the feeding stations :)
Every bright morning I keep going to the patio doors to check the skyline.
You should see kestrel, buzzards,sprawks and goshawk too if you keep your eye's peeled :)
(there are whispers and records of Merlin too, but have yet to convincingly see one myself yet)
WOW, well I thought id get a good snap because it was quite low in flight and I could see all its markings clearly, I was devastated when I saw my photo. For about a minute I was trying to get the bird in my lcd screen to snap it but I got in such a flap I wasnt quick enough, I could have really kicked myself. My husband has said he will take me to the place (cant remember the name ) where you can see them being fed, so im gonna hold him to that.
I have never seen a kestrel I dont think, but would love to. I often see buzzards and get visits from sparrowhawks now and again in my garden. Also never seen a goshawk, and I wouldnt even have a clue what a merlin looks like......still got lots to learn
There are several place, the best in my opinion is Gigrin Farm, they put more food out so they stay longer.
Sightings of goshawks are usually very fleeting, apart from the breeding display.
Also a suspected hobby last year, with the help of the kind people here managed to whittle it down to most likely that, hunting swift's and martins.
Did you have swifts nesting up your end last year?
Oh right, where exaclty is Gigrin farm? Sounds brill, and I definatly want to go to the wetlands centre in Llanelli again this year.
Yes on the swifts, they were around here, but not sure where exactly they were nesting.
Link to Gigrin.
Link
Llanelli is decent too, also newport wetlands and forrest farm not to far to travel either
thanks for the link mpiekp.
Lots of activity going on in my nest box. I do believe they are a pair. The last 3 days the male and female have filled it with nesting material such as hay, feathers and even some of the fluff that I put out from my tumble dryer filter. Im so excited LOL, and so are the kids, the first thing they do every morning is switch the tv on to see what the pair are up to.
They are so comical, they have even put plastic in there, looks like a sweet wrapper. We have the tv on most of the day so that we can keep watch. So very interesting to see them preparing a nest and their behaviour :)
Sounds like she's accepted him now then :)
Sometimes she's just not in the mood