Our coal tit seems to have finished laying and now has 8 eggs. Spent most of the last two days raising the sides of the nest so that it fits tightly around her when she is sitting. The female now only rarely leaves the nest and then for only a few moments. She is being fed by the male - mostly seeds from our feeders plus occasional insects. He sits in the bush outside and calls to her before he goes in; she answers and he then goes into the box. Presumably this routine is to let her know it's not a predator.
This is our first year with a camera type nest box. Just gripping stuff; trouble is we're getting very protective. Our garden is the happy hunting ground of a sparrow hawk!
Theses camera boxes are great to watch willife with arent they........ i made my own cam-box with cctv camera and can remember the joy i got when the tits ( blue) used the box for the first time.. it was magic and better them eastenders... mind you anything would be would it LOL
Regards your hawk being around sadly there is nothing much you can do its nature, you could if ya can place a old wire hanging basket over the box to help the parents birds a bit when they are feeding the young as when they start feeding young is often when the sparrowhawk strikes... this is somthng i have done to stop hawks ( sparrow) catching the birs when they are at the box........ a 14'' inch basket should keep them safe...
dont just look enjoy and leave for others to share after you. we dont own the earth we just rent a small part of it....
Hi Alan
Welcome to the forums.
Your coal tit nest sounds great. Do you have any pictures that you can post from your nest box camera?
You need to click on the small green film icon when you're writing a post or reply to put them on here.
Best wishes Chris
Click Here to see my photos
Thanks for the update Alan. I was hoping we would hear more about your nest from you.