In NB-3 the eggs are hatching!!!!
This morning when I came in...(5 minutes ago ca. 7:30), I saw the first hatching (so tiny!!) and I noticed that a second egg was cracked!
I am so exicted!!!!
Mom Blue Tit left the nest once since I arrived to get a mini-worm to feed to the first hatchling. She had to call to it a couple of times before it opened it beak to be fed.
The temperatures are really low (about 6°C) and thus Mom Blue Tit continues brooding the unhatched eggs and warms up the 1st hatchling (which would otherwise die).
I will post as the others hatch!
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Friday, 6 May 2011
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Nest-Guarding rather than Brooding...
I guess I was wrong: in NB-1 and NB-4 brodding hast not begung yet.
The misleading factor: both females spend a significant amount of time in the nest. More than I had witnessed last year. I wonder if the territorial disputes play a role in this, what appears to me, over-proportionate "nesting" (i.e. just sitting around in the nest).
I have not recently witnessed any more disputes between the Sparrows and the new Great Tit pair. This however does not mean that the tension is not high.
What I am still wondering: are there any eggs at all in NB-1 and NB-4. When I look closely I see none in NB-4 (and of course I cannot see so deep inside the nest in NB-1).
I wonder if:
a) The Great Tit female is guarding an empty nest from (i) Sparrows or (ii) other Great Tits, or if
b) The Great Tit female is guarding the nest and lays eggs and hides them so well that it appears as though none are there
Interestingly enough, the male brings her food quite frequently. I wonder if the male is more aware than I am of what is going on or if he simply feeds the female because she is in the nest and will continue to do so until the hatchlings come. I cannot stop marvelling at the complexity of all of this wonderful process.
If I recall last year, nest building started on the 1st of May and the first egg was laid on the 4th. So if I compare, then theoretically it would not be too late if neither the Sparrow nor Great Tit have not laid eggs yet. However 2 things must not be forgotten:
1) Last year's winter seemed never to end and the temperatures were very low until end of April
2) The Blue Tit female in NB-3 is currently brooding 9 eggs...
I have started a statistics page/section as it seems as though it could be interesting to follow developments over the year and perhaps identify a trend if any.
The misleading factor: both females spend a significant amount of time in the nest. More than I had witnessed last year. I wonder if the territorial disputes play a role in this, what appears to me, over-proportionate "nesting" (i.e. just sitting around in the nest).
I have not recently witnessed any more disputes between the Sparrows and the new Great Tit pair. This however does not mean that the tension is not high.
What I am still wondering: are there any eggs at all in NB-1 and NB-4. When I look closely I see none in NB-4 (and of course I cannot see so deep inside the nest in NB-1).
I wonder if:
a) The Great Tit female is guarding an empty nest from (i) Sparrows or (ii) other Great Tits, or if
b) The Great Tit female is guarding the nest and lays eggs and hides them so well that it appears as though none are there
Interestingly enough, the male brings her food quite frequently. I wonder if the male is more aware than I am of what is going on or if he simply feeds the female because she is in the nest and will continue to do so until the hatchlings come. I cannot stop marvelling at the complexity of all of this wonderful process.
If I recall last year, nest building started on the 1st of May and the first egg was laid on the 4th. So if I compare, then theoretically it would not be too late if neither the Sparrow nor Great Tit have not laid eggs yet. However 2 things must not be forgotten:
1) Last year's winter seemed never to end and the temperatures were very low until end of April
2) The Blue Tit female in NB-3 is currently brooding 9 eggs...
I have started a statistics page/section as it seems as though it could be interesting to follow developments over the year and perhaps identify a trend if any.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
x Eggs in y NBs = x*y Future Hatchlings!
What I am sure of: eggs are to be found in all 3 currently occupied NBs (NB-1, NB-3, and NB-4).
What I am unsure of: the total number of eggs in NB-1 and NB-4!
NB-1: Day # 2 of brooding: brooding continues with x eggs. I am 99.99...% sure that brooding has begung. This of course means that Sparrows indded do not sleep in the nest after having laid eggs. This is surprising, as I would have expected that like the Tits the female guards the eggs at night.
NB-2: nothing
NB-3: Day # 5 of brooding: brooding continues with 9 eggs. The male brought food repeated number of times today. Once he even brought a worm which was so big that the female had difficulties in swallowing it and had to "spit" it out.
NB-4: Day # 2 of brooding: brooding continues with x eggs. The Great Tit is amazing at hiding her eggs when she leaves. I believe she does this due to the fact that the Sparrows are nesting close by. I see her moving significant amounts of nesting material to under her belly before she leaves and removing this same material when she returns. Hopefully I will manage to see the eggs soon.
What I am unsure of: the total number of eggs in NB-1 and NB-4!
NB-1: Day # 2 of brooding: brooding continues with x eggs. I am 99.99...% sure that brooding has begung. This of course means that Sparrows indded do not sleep in the nest after having laid eggs. This is surprising, as I would have expected that like the Tits the female guards the eggs at night.
NB-2: nothing
NB-3: Day # 5 of brooding: brooding continues with 9 eggs. The male brought food repeated number of times today. Once he even brought a worm which was so big that the female had difficulties in swallowing it and had to "spit" it out.
NB-4: Day # 2 of brooding: brooding continues with x eggs. The Great Tit is amazing at hiding her eggs when she leaves. I believe she does this due to the fact that the Sparrows are nesting close by. I see her moving significant amounts of nesting material to under her belly before she leaves and removing this same material when she returns. Hopefully I will manage to see the eggs soon.
Tuesday, 26 April 2011
NB-1 to NB-4 Update.....Brooding has Begun!
Quite a bit has happened during the Eater-weekend. Here is a summary (longish) of the events:
NB-1: I think brooding has begun...it is difficult to tell, because as usual the Tree Sparrows are keen and great nest builders that never stop carrying significant amounts of nestning material into the box. Indeed a number of biggish feathers have been brought in. Some are abbandoned half-way into the nest along the entrance corridor. When this happens, the camera is blocked, or semi-blocked. At any rate the female Sparrow (I am guessing) was in the nest for an extensive amount of time this morning, which suggests that she had begun brooding. Unless of course, I was observing her attempts at laying an egg. So far, the Sparrow has not slept in the nest, which suggest one of two things:
1. Sparrows, unlike Tits (both Blue and Great) do not sleep in the nest when they have layed eggs
2. No eggs have been layed so far.
In my night-attempts at clearing the camera-view I also tried to see if there were any eggs in the nest. However, due to the complex construction of the nest, I was unsuccessful (unless of course no eggs were in the nest and thus I saw none).
Another important observation is that yesterday in the late afternoon the Sparrows mated again in the tree next to the nesting box. The mating attempts were 5-6. I am unsure as to how many of these were indeed successfull. I had already witnessed mating some 6-7 days ago. At any rate, mating means fertilising of the egg to come, i.e. the Sparrow female should be laying eggs soon afterwards. As of now the status in the nest remains unclear. When I return home this afternoon I will try to determine if a Sparrow is in the nest, and if not how much time passes before one returns to the nest. During brooding (and depending on the ambient temperature, i.e. if the temperatures are low/medium), the female leaves for only short intervals (longer ones at the beginning) for feeding. Based on the observations I should be able to determine if the Sparrow(s) (indeed I do not know if the Sparrow female alone broods or if both brood) is(are) brooding or if eggs are being layed.
NB-2: Empty (of which I am very happy). Luckly no bird-pair has taken up this nest....there have been more than enough territorial-disputes
NB-3: 9 Eggs, I believe brooding started on the 24th. She appears to have spent some time in the nest on her eggs prior to the 24th but it does not appear to have been brooding.
Egg 6 on the 22nd
Egg 7 on the 23rd
Egg 8 on the 24th
Egg 9 on the 25th
Today the male Blue Tit came repeated to bring her juicy green worms. Sometime she just starts chirping away whilst brooding, I wonder if she is calling to him for food.
The temperatures have been quite high (upper 20s) in the past few days and the temporary sun-roof seems to be helping. I hope however, that the temperatures decrease again (lower 20s). Clouds (partial) would also be good.
I measured temperatures in the nesting box again:
Date & Time | Temperature
2011.04.26 @ 11:28 | < 21.7°C
2011.04.26 @ 13:16 | 25.4°C
NB-4: On the 22nd the Great Tit female started sleeping in the nest, i.e. 1st egg was probably laid on the 22nd. I must check. Today is the 26th, so when being optimistic there could be 5 eggs in the nest as of now. I wonder how many eggs will be layed before brooding starts. Last year the Great Tits layed 12 eggs in NB-1_2010 (smaller than NB-1_2011, i.e. same sort as NB-2 to NB-4). 12 eggs is at the upper end of the range for Great Tits.
I will be posting some pictures in the next couple of days....
NB-1: I think brooding has begun...it is difficult to tell, because as usual the Tree Sparrows are keen and great nest builders that never stop carrying significant amounts of nestning material into the box. Indeed a number of biggish feathers have been brought in. Some are abbandoned half-way into the nest along the entrance corridor. When this happens, the camera is blocked, or semi-blocked. At any rate the female Sparrow (I am guessing) was in the nest for an extensive amount of time this morning, which suggests that she had begun brooding. Unless of course, I was observing her attempts at laying an egg. So far, the Sparrow has not slept in the nest, which suggest one of two things:
1. Sparrows, unlike Tits (both Blue and Great) do not sleep in the nest when they have layed eggs
2. No eggs have been layed so far.
In my night-attempts at clearing the camera-view I also tried to see if there were any eggs in the nest. However, due to the complex construction of the nest, I was unsuccessful (unless of course no eggs were in the nest and thus I saw none).
Another important observation is that yesterday in the late afternoon the Sparrows mated again in the tree next to the nesting box. The mating attempts were 5-6. I am unsure as to how many of these were indeed successfull. I had already witnessed mating some 6-7 days ago. At any rate, mating means fertilising of the egg to come, i.e. the Sparrow female should be laying eggs soon afterwards. As of now the status in the nest remains unclear. When I return home this afternoon I will try to determine if a Sparrow is in the nest, and if not how much time passes before one returns to the nest. During brooding (and depending on the ambient temperature, i.e. if the temperatures are low/medium), the female leaves for only short intervals (longer ones at the beginning) for feeding. Based on the observations I should be able to determine if the Sparrow(s) (indeed I do not know if the Sparrow female alone broods or if both brood) is(are) brooding or if eggs are being layed.
NB-2: Empty (of which I am very happy). Luckly no bird-pair has taken up this nest....there have been more than enough territorial-disputes
NB-3: 9 Eggs, I believe brooding started on the 24th. She appears to have spent some time in the nest on her eggs prior to the 24th but it does not appear to have been brooding.
Egg 6 on the 22nd
Egg 7 on the 23rd
Egg 8 on the 24th
Egg 9 on the 25th
Today the male Blue Tit came repeated to bring her juicy green worms. Sometime she just starts chirping away whilst brooding, I wonder if she is calling to him for food.
The temperatures have been quite high (upper 20s) in the past few days and the temporary sun-roof seems to be helping. I hope however, that the temperatures decrease again (lower 20s). Clouds (partial) would also be good.
I measured temperatures in the nesting box again:
Date & Time | Temperature
2011.04.26 @ 11:28 | < 21.7°C
2011.04.26 @ 13:16 | 25.4°C
NB-4: On the 22nd the Great Tit female started sleeping in the nest, i.e. 1st egg was probably laid on the 22nd. I must check. Today is the 26th, so when being optimistic there could be 5 eggs in the nest as of now. I wonder how many eggs will be layed before brooding starts. Last year the Great Tits layed 12 eggs in NB-1_2010 (smaller than NB-1_2011, i.e. same sort as NB-2 to NB-4). 12 eggs is at the upper end of the range for Great Tits.
I will be posting some pictures in the next couple of days....
Thursday, 21 April 2011
NB-2 and NB-4 Switch
When I got home today I checked the fourth nesting box (NB-4) to see whether Great Tits had decided to build a nest without Sparrow-distruptions.
To my suprise, the nest was in an advanced stage of construction (i.e. with already soft material, i.e. the uppermost layer).
As usual I had an idea: replace NB-4 with NB-2 such that I can follow the developments in NB-4. Indeed nothing has moved/changed in NB-2 since the Sparrow attack.
I proceeded as follows: I removed NB-2 from its position and removed the nest from inside (I had gloves on the whole time, just in case birds can smell). I removed NB-4 from its position, removed the front and removed the nest and placed it in NB-2. I took the front covering of NB-4 and used it to close NB-2. I hung NB-2 where NB-4 hung previously.
Result: I now have a camera in what I will continue to call NB-4.
As for NB-2 I will now proceed hang it up again such that the Sparrows do not get suspicious. I would not want them to start attacking NB-4 due to a missing NB-2.
All very confusing, but I am curious to see if it works. I noticed with NB-3 that the birds do not seem to mind what happens to the outer looks of the nesting box (I added a temporary roof to avoid too much sun from excessively increasing the temperature inside the nesting box). So it should work. My greatest worry are, to be quite honest the very territorial Sparrows.
I will keep the live stream on NB-4 for a couple of days to see how things proceed.
To my suprise, the nest was in an advanced stage of construction (i.e. with already soft material, i.e. the uppermost layer).
As usual I had an idea: replace NB-4 with NB-2 such that I can follow the developments in NB-4. Indeed nothing has moved/changed in NB-2 since the Sparrow attack.
I proceeded as follows: I removed NB-2 from its position and removed the nest from inside (I had gloves on the whole time, just in case birds can smell). I removed NB-4 from its position, removed the front and removed the nest and placed it in NB-2. I took the front covering of NB-4 and used it to close NB-2. I hung NB-2 where NB-4 hung previously.
Result: I now have a camera in what I will continue to call NB-4.
As for NB-2 I will now proceed hang it up again such that the Sparrows do not get suspicious. I would not want them to start attacking NB-4 due to a missing NB-2.
All very confusing, but I am curious to see if it works. I noticed with NB-3 that the birds do not seem to mind what happens to the outer looks of the nesting box (I added a temporary roof to avoid too much sun from excessively increasing the temperature inside the nesting box). So it should work. My greatest worry are, to be quite honest the very territorial Sparrows.
I will keep the live stream on NB-4 for a couple of days to see how things proceed.
Wednesday, 20 April 2011
4 Eggs
Easter will not be egg-less!
...so far there are 4 eggs in NB-3.
I managed to get a snapshot this evening. She has been very deligent at keeping her
eggs hidden!
...so far there are 4 eggs in NB-3.
I managed to get a snapshot this evening. She has been very deligent at keeping her
eggs hidden!
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Continued Attacks...
At about 14:00 whilst the Great Tit female was sitting in NB-2 (nesting box #2) just "relaxing", a Tree Sparrow suddenly entered the nesting box and attacked the female. The fight was brutal and the Sparrow clearly had the upperhand.
I only noticed this later on my display and noticed that the Freat Tit female was perched in the tree in what seemed to be a state of shock. Indeed she was very still, and did not notice what was going on around her. I opened the garden door and whilst the other birds flew away, she remained there without even noticing me. I did not want to distress her further and therefore did not leave the house. She remained in the tree in the very same position for at least 10-15 minutes. It was quite discomforting. In the meantime a Tree Sparrow again entered the nesting box. Some time passed and a Tree Sparrow again entered NB-2. At this point I entered the garden and moving to NB-2 I moved it around it. My intention (though perhaps not very "scientist that does not get involved") was to scare the Sparrow and thus discourage it from again entering the box in the future. It did get scared, that is for sure. From a scientific point of view I am definitely not proud of what I have done, from a maternal point of view I feel that I have done nothing wrong.
The floor of NB-2 is covered in small black feathers, a clear indication of the brutality of the fight which took place in it. The female Great Tit had almost completed the nest as the attack occured. Indeed she had started carrying in the "soft" material used for padding. I wonder how come the Tree Sparrows allowed the Great Tit to get so far with nest building and only just today mounted an attack.
I wonder if the female Great Tit will return, I wonder if the Sparrows will continue with the attacks and I wonder if they will even maybe destroy the eggs should the Great Tit lay any.
Only time will tell. At any rate, at this point in the afternoon, the birds tend to be somewhere else and thus I shall have to wait 'til tomorrow.
I only noticed this later on my display and noticed that the Freat Tit female was perched in the tree in what seemed to be a state of shock. Indeed she was very still, and did not notice what was going on around her. I opened the garden door and whilst the other birds flew away, she remained there without even noticing me. I did not want to distress her further and therefore did not leave the house. She remained in the tree in the very same position for at least 10-15 minutes. It was quite discomforting. In the meantime a Tree Sparrow again entered the nesting box. Some time passed and a Tree Sparrow again entered NB-2. At this point I entered the garden and moving to NB-2 I moved it around it. My intention (though perhaps not very "scientist that does not get involved") was to scare the Sparrow and thus discourage it from again entering the box in the future. It did get scared, that is for sure. From a scientific point of view I am definitely not proud of what I have done, from a maternal point of view I feel that I have done nothing wrong.
The floor of NB-2 is covered in small black feathers, a clear indication of the brutality of the fight which took place in it. The female Great Tit had almost completed the nest as the attack occured. Indeed she had started carrying in the "soft" material used for padding. I wonder how come the Tree Sparrows allowed the Great Tit to get so far with nest building and only just today mounted an attack.
I wonder if the female Great Tit will return, I wonder if the Sparrows will continue with the attacks and I wonder if they will even maybe destroy the eggs should the Great Tit lay any.
Only time will tell. At any rate, at this point in the afternoon, the birds tend to be somewhere else and thus I shall have to wait 'til tomorrow.
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