Day 21 - Thursday 30th April 2015

More incubating taking place. Regular turning of the eggs. 

Day 20 - Wednesday 29th April 2015

And another quiet day for Freda, sitting comfortably on the eggs.  Fred is still continuing to feed her as she spends more time on the eggs.  She is constantly turning them now.

Day 19 - Tuesday 28th April 2015

A beautiful start to the day here in South East London, not a cloud in the sky but a bit chilly.  Freda has already been out for breakfast this morning. 

Day 18 - Monday 27th April 2015

Well, another day and all is well. Freda has spent most of the day incubating, while Fred is spending more time popping in and out the box feeding her.

At least the weather is staying settled and no real rain to bother the pair.  There is plenty of activity near the box, with Robins and Sparrows in the Pear tree next door, but the couple of are taking this in their stride.

We now have two Robins arriving every time the back door opens in the hope of a feed.   They are not disappointed!

Day 17 - Sunday 26th April 2015

A bit of a miserable day today in South East London, so perhaps a good time for staying in.  Freda is very comfortable incubating her nine eggs, Fred has been visiting with food, and she's been out to stretch her wings a few times so far today.

Day 16 - Saturday 25th April 2015

Incubation is well under way now with Freda spending most of her time on the eggs, and Fred is popping in and out like a dutiful husband with titbits including small caterpillars, worms and pieces of sunflower seed.

It looks like we've settled for nine eggs, and I don't think she will lay any more now. Incubation time is approximately 12 days, so we could be on schedule for May 4/5th for the first chick.

Once we see that we'll turn on the live stream.

There has been quite a food fest in our garden today, with regular visits from a pair or Robins and Blackbirds.

Day 15 - Friday 24th April 2015

Into the third week and we have NINE eggs in the nest that we can see.  Freda is definitely incubating now and we anticipate that around the first Bank Holiday week in May 4th or 5th we may see some hatching taking place.

This will be going into a critical phase now as Blue Tits are renowned for having large broods as the survival rate is fairly low.  A good expectation from nine eggs would be 2 or 3 chicks making it through to adulthood. 

Day 14 - Thursday 23rd April 2015

NINE eggs in the nest now covered by a single feather at the moment!  Unfortunately, some of the light nesting material has made it's way in front of the lens of the camera.  Hopefully when the movement starts this will disappear.

Update at 18:00 it's gone.  Normal vision is restored.

Day 13 - Wednesday 22nd April 2015

We now have 8 eggs in the nest, so it looks like Freda has been busy over the past few days despite appearances.

Looks like Freda is now settling down on the eggs, Fred has been popping in to feed from time to time.

Day 12 - Tuesday 21st April 2015

Another quiet shift for Freda, with a few more feathers for the nest, one of which obscured the camera for some time.  I think these few days are the lull before the storm.

Watch this space!

Day 11 - Monday 20th April 2015

Not much to report today. A few comings and going from Freda and a bit more hair put on the nest.  She's hidden the eggs very well when she goes out.

Day 10 - Sunday 19th April 2015

Well, Freda's behaviour has certainly changed over the last 2 or 3 days, and we had an inkling we knew why.  She has been very meticulous when leaving the nest to make sure the nest is prim and proper and also when she returns there is more than the usual activity.

Well, this morning we discovered that she has been a clever little girl, and if you look to the top left of the nest cup you will see 5 eggs.  These have been laid since I put the picture up at 14:01 yesterday.

At this stage we're not sure how many more are to come, as Blue Tit's can lay up to 12 eggs in one go.  Incubation will only start when Freda is ready so there is no need to worry about the condition of these 5 eggs while she is not there.  We fully expect she will add to this tally today, and hopefully in view of the top camera.

Apologies again for the quality of these pictures, however, next year's box is in the planning department with two higher grade cameras and some lighting.

Fred paid a visit to bring Freda some food today.

18:07.  I was informed today that Blue Tits only lay one egg per day, so Freda has been hiding them well over the past week.  Let's see what happens tonight.

Day 9 - Saturday 18th April 2015

Here is a picture of the nest building so far.  The fluffy bits in the foreground are mine and Janet's hair we left in the garden after we last had a haircut.  (The grey bits!)

When I positioned the camera, I allowed 5 centimetres for the height of the nest , and I hope she doesn't build it much higher and obscure the view.  She has, unfortunately, built the cup of the nest slightly off centre in the box which means the overhead camera cannot quite see when the eggs are laid.  But, every cloud has a silver lining, and this means the chick activity will be right in front of the horizontal camera.

Horizontal camera.

Below is the overhead camera picture, and the dip in the top left is where she has made the cup of the nest.

An early night once again for Freda, turning in at 19:20.

Day 8 - Friday 17th April 2015

Day 8 - A little chilly today for our girl, and she's spent a lot of time away from the next.
The garden has been busy tho' with the Blackbird on feeding duties for his young, and a large crow trying to get to the meal worms.  We managed to get rid of him .

Freda was settled down on her nest early tonight at 19:20.

Let's see what the weekend brings.

Day 7 - Thursday 16th April 2015

A slightly colder day to day than it was yesterday, and only a small amount of nest building taking place today.

The Blackbird has been very busy all day cramming as many meal-worms as he can carry back to the nest. The Blackbird chicks are certainly getting a good start to ilfe.

Freda was roosting in the nestbox by 19:40 tonight.

Day 6 - Wednesday 15th April 2015

Freda had a lay in this morning and didn't leave the nest until 06:08.
On what was the warmest day of the year so far, just a little more nest building took place, while the Blackbird managed to gather as many mealworms as he could fit into his beak and take back to his nest three gardens away.

They've been feeding chicks for over a week now, so it looks like a good start for them.

Freda tucked up at 19:45 tonight.

Day 5 - Tuesday 14th April 2015

Another quiet day in the box. Not much coming and going just a few more feathers and hair clippings.  Fred's been keeping an eye on things.  There appears to have been a Woodpecker in the garden today, devastating the Squirrel feeder, but don't seem to have bothered our two guests.

Tucked up safely now at 20.00

Day 4 - Monday 13th April 2015

Freda was awake and up and out by 05.51a.m. this morning, bringing back some small clippings of hair from the garden.

A bit more nest building today, a few feathers were brought in, although she spent a fair time away from the nest today.

What are you looking at ?

She's all settled for the evening now at 19.40.  

Day 3 - Sunday 12th April 2015

Freda spent another night in the box sleeping, and was up and away early at 5.20a.m. and didn't return untul 07.20 with some more hair clippings and grass.  Nest building continues but she looks like she's nearly finished, just a few final touches to make sure everything is cosy and secure. Fred is keeping a watchful on her from a distance.

19:00
It's been a quiet day on the nest building front and it looks as if Freda is happy with the what she has built so far.  She has left the nest box for long periods today and has been with Fred flitting between gardens, probably enjoying a Sunday rest and some good food.

Freda retired to the nest box at 19:40 tonight escorted by Fred into the Pear tree.  He waited for a few minutes before flying off towards the park.

Another successful day.

Day 2 - Saturday 11th April 2015

Freda spent last night comfortably sleeping in the nest box, and was rudely awaked by Fred at 5.40 this morning.  Deciding to ignore him, she turned over and had another 20 minutes kip, before leaving the box just after 6a.m.

She's been back a few times with nesting material, but its raining now so house building has come to a stop for a while.

The sun eventually came out for a beautiful afternoon in South London and Freda made the most of it with some more nest building.

I'm a bit concerned that she's coming dangerously close to the level I predicted for the nest and if she's goes much higher it might obscure the horizontal camera.  She seems also to be making the cup of the nest off centre of the nest box and almost under the horizontal camera, which may be a blessing in disguise as the overhead camera is struggling a little.  We'll see what happens as I'm hoping the nest will settle a little once there is some activity.  Carry on Freda.

And so, after another busy day, off to bed.

Day 1 - Friday 10th April 2015

It was just before 6a.m. on Friday 10th April, I got for a cup of tea went downstairs and opened the back door, when I was confronted with the shrill cry of a Blue Tit high up in next door's Pear tree.

I instantly recognized what she was saying, 'GO BACK IN AND SHUT THE DOOR -  NOW!'

I duly obliged, and went upstairs and switched on the cameras to the nest box and lo and behold there I saw the nest which was about 5 days old.

We had been away for Easter so the garden was relatively quiet and Freda had obviously been eyeing up the box and found it to be suitable, and got on with the task of nest building.

The nest so far is made up of dry grass, feathers, moss and some hair clippings which we left out after my last haircut. These are always gratefully received for nest building.

Video Page

This page will show the latest video activity in the nestbox.  I will update it when something interesting occurs.

Welcome Page

Welcome to BirdWatch2015

Several years ago I built the bird box below with two cameras inside to record the nesting activity of any birds who chose to use it.  Unfortunately, our garden was a haven for cats which lead to quite a few years without any success in the box.

Now, we are virtually cat free and this year it looks like we may be successful in gaining an occupier to make a home for their new born.

The box is a converted Sparrow's box which could house three families.  I modified it to house the camera equipment, which is a tubular CCD camera taking the side on views from opposite the entrance hole, with an InfraRed CCD pointing downwards, hopefully, above where the nest will be.

The cameras go into an audio/video switch which in turn feeds to the graphics card in my PC. The software used is i-Catcher v3.2., which will trigger whenever there is movement in front of the cameras.  The quality will be fairly low due to the lighting conditions and Infrared lights. Unfortunately I don't have the resources of BBC Springwatch.

I will swap the views occasionally depending on how things progress.  I will also run a live video stream once things start to occur.

If all goes well, expect to see some chicks leaving around the last week in May, but please be aware it's not Disney and things do sometimes go wrong.  Fingers crossed tho'.

JnJ