Live Stream of my Bird Box - Bluetits Nesting - Chicks Hatching Now

mattyg said:
Brilliant

Would love to do this, Poss a bit late now.
Do you have a parts list
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There are a few pictures of the build on the first page. I will put together a list with some links as a few people have asked.

It will be too late for this year now but never too early to start for next year. Many species will start looking for places to nest in Spring 2021 from August - October onward. Ideally if you're going to put a box up it needs to go up by the end of summer to give them time to check it out and become comfortable with it ahead of next spring.

You never know though some birds have three broods with the last being in August so its still possible but it is unlikely.

If you can get it up by the end of the summer they may also use it to sleep over winter which is also very interesting to watch.
 
@DEL 707 After your post this morning I thought "I've not seen any young blackbirds yet I'll keep an eye out."

Then three appeared in my front garden along with both parents.












 
The male came to visit her again earlier but he didn't come in to the box this time he just had a peak in to check on her.

She's out again at the moment. She tends to start coming back more regularly from 6pm to rotate the eggs and make the nest comfortable for the night and then settles down at sunset.

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She has been sat on the eggs for the last hour or so.

She also spent a couple of hours on them yesterday spread out through the day so it may be that she is starting to think about incubating them or maybe she will go out for the afternoon instead.

We saw the male feeding her in the bushes this morning and he also came in to the box to feed her over lunch time (see 12:42 - 12.45) with peanut butter from one of our feeders.





 
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Energize said:
Video footage seems corrupt unfortunately? First video plays then but the rest jam upon seeking.
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Seems ok here.

How is it now?

I notice your posted at 9.03. I have to start and stop the stream every 12 hours which I do at approx 9am and 9pm. This is so that YouTube archives the footage as they don't store videos longer than this. Not sure if this was related or not.
 
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If these two birds were me and my wife..... I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING FROM THE SHOP, BUT I DID AND YOU DIDN'T GET ME ANYTHING!!!
 
Is that bluetit okay?

She looks like she might either have a respiratory problem or mites the way she is moving. She does not look comfortable. I say mites because of the state of her feathers and they cause skin irritation/itching.

I dont know it might be how the regulate the heat for the eggs, but she seems very restless.
 
Tony Edwards said:
Is that bluetit okay?

She looks like she might either have a respiratory problem or mites the way she is moving. She does not look comfortable. I say mites because of the state of her feathers and they cause skin irritation/itching.

I dont know it might be how the regulate the heat for the eggs, but she seems very restless.
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Could just be that she lays her body weight in eggs! Must take it’s toll.
 
mrbell1984 said:
I recon he's not going to get laid tonight.
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I should hope not! That's a mother and her baby :eek::D

subbytna said:
If these two birds were me and my wife..... I TOLD YOU I DIDN'T WANT ANYTHING FROM THE SHOP, BUT I DID AND YOU DIDN'T GET ME ANYTHING!!!
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That made me laugh but I can never unsee it now!

The_Abyss said:
We should start a sweep on the hour and day for when the first egg hatches. I'm going with 2pm on 10 May :D
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I haven't thought about a date yet but my bet for the last week or so was on 7 eggs so I'm one away so far but the more the merrier!!

Tony Edwards said:
Is that bluetit okay?

She looks like she might either have a respiratory problem or mites the way she is moving. She does not look comfortable. I say mites because of the state of her feathers and they cause skin irritation/itching.

I dont know it might be how the regulate the heat for the eggs, but she seems very restless.
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Well she's called scruffy for a reason!

So far it seems that the more eggs she has the more she seems to wake up to either change her position or to rotate the eggs themselves in to different positions.

I've watched them roost over the winter and that breathing pattern while sleeping seems to be fairly normal. If anything it seems to be related to the temperature I've noticed it more in cooler weather.

Birds don't sleep like we do. They shut down one half of their brain and keep the other active for self preservation reasons. They can appear quite restless.

The vast majority of birds nests will contain mites to some degree. It's one of the reasons why young are encouraged to fledge so early to get away from the problem. This is why nest boxes should always be cleaned out between seasons and scalded with hot water to prevent the problem carrying over.
 
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Although she did pop out for a bit she has spent most of the day so far in the box sitting on the eggs.

Male has brought her peanut butter again a few times. We've not realised that he is actually taking food to two different females in two different nests, we even suspect a third but can't be sure.

Not sure if this is the start of her incubation or if shes just having to work harder to keep the eggs warm today. The weather is very different today we have mist, very low cloud (we are high up) and the temperature is 3 degrees at my weather station right now. The last week or so has been sunny spells and double figures so I guess we may see her adapt her behavior accordingly.
 
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