Blue Tit or possibly great tit made a nest in camera box end of March but has not returned
This is the 1st time this has happened after 9 years of successful hatchings
we normally have swarms of blue tits and great tits in the trees but hardly any this year but we now have swarms of sparrows
so sad not to watch the nest progress to a happy ending of fledglings
what could be the problem ?
Possibly lack of enough suitable food down to cool or wet weather or frightened off or predated, but they may just have decided to nest elsewhere! Have had many reports of Blue and Great Tit nests failing this season, is always very sad!
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
Thanks for the reply
I have 15 feeders with seed meal worms and fat balls but live insects seem lacking this year
we have 2 huge oak trees that’s always full of caterpillars that the birds feast on but again the trees have not had them this year
It’s a rural wildlife friendly community here and no-one uses pesticides in the gardens as the birds do the job for us but we have had a new family move in who are always out spraying their plants and bleaching their pathway
On a brighter side we have an abundance of Robins which as I type this are singing away in the rain as they know the ground is soft enough to dig for worms
nature can be cruel at times but it seems to repay us in its own way
Certainly don't need over-zealous folk killing every bug in sight, the birds need so much natural food to successfully rear their chicks but too often their existence is not an important part of many peoples' lives!
This comment from Parliament last year ...
https://committees.parliament.uk/work/7381/insect-decline-and-uk-food-security/#:~:text=Inquiry,and%20pest%20or%20weed%20regulation.
And another on same subject ...
https://www.buglife.org.uk/news/bugs-matter-survey-finds-that-uk-flying-insects-have-declined-by-nearly-60-in-less-than-20-years/
Good news about the Robins though, guaranteed to brighten our lives