View Full Version : Blue tits!
I thought all birds would have their nests by now, but yeterday and today I have watched a blue tit going in and out of one of our nesting boxes - dozens of times. :thumbs: We've never had the boxes used so I'd be thrilled.I've been sitting watching the activity through binoculars today :bigeyes: . Isn't that late though, or are blue tits late nest builders? :unsure: My book says breeding is April or May, and eggs hatch after 14 days. We have Robins too, but not sure where their nest is! Did try peeking through the hole in the nesting box :rolleyes: :blush: but couldn't see anything anyway :sad: All I achieved was disturbing a sleeping fox - it woke and ran off, making me jump. Don't know who got the biggest surprise - me or foxy! :wacko:
oh how lovely :blush: I hope they are nesting :D
You may find more info here (http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/b/bluetit/index.asp) :thumbs:
Thanks, Eeyore - I'll go and look now :thumbs:
Keep us posted with nesting developments sp54 :D
Well, it had gone 'quiet' as I had to pick my 'charges' up from school. With 7 children racing around my garden, no decent self respecting creature would come anywhere near [except the blooming squirrels - it takes more than 7 kids to scare them off :lol: :hihi: ] The kids have all gone now, so I went back on bird watch, :bigeyes: and, yes, back came the blue tit, in and out of the house all the time. :thumbs: When it goes in, it stays in there for several minutes. It certainly looks as if it is collecting nesting materials. I am quite excited - we have tried for years to get the birds to nest in our garden, and do encourage them, but never had luck. Mind you, before the NFH, the lady who lived next door had a mad dog who was locked in the garden all day barking. We have seen more wildlife this year now that dog has gone and the pyromaniac,psychopathic, DIYer has gone. Makes a huge difference obviously- even the wildlife are happier :wow: :jump: :thumbs:
Lady Penelope
18-04-05, 09:29 PM
:) Hi Sp, Moby, Eeyore
:) Aw isn't it nice to see them? Yes me too...still finding things in my garden too...I have a huge bird house on a post lopped against my fence which when I moved in I told the contractors not to throw away :blush: Still there.. :rolleyes: haven't had time to put in place yet.
I think it is too big for blue tits... but have seen beautiful coloured green ones about and wood pigeons are about the garden too I have noticed. Gracious...just discovering this place now...but next to farmland...so lots of song birds and I have been digging too...aw and a nice Robin has been helping me garden too...haven't found a slug yet...watch this space and don't mention salt :lol:
Excuse my ignorance...if they are green they can't be Blue Tit's then can they :rolleyes:
What are they :D
LPxxx
Lady Penelope
18-04-05, 10:34 PM
:lol: Lol Moby :P Hope it's the 'Green' original brand you naughty naughty Moby you :rolleyes:
:hihi: LPxxx
LP, I looked in my book - could it be a greenfinch? :unsure:
I have been watching ours almost non-stop. The nesting boxes have never been used, so I am so excited. They have chosen the oldest one, which is a cute little 2 storied house on a stand. It has 2 little 'windows' upstairs, and it keeps appearing at the window, occasionally throwing something out of the house it clearly doesn't want! :blink:
I am going to the shops this morning to buy a better bird book. Bill Oddie watch out! :hihi: :lol:
We've got greenfinches nesting nearby, they keep stealing bits of my hanging baskets to use as a nest :lol:
And the chaffinches that come into our gartden were getting "fruity" the other day too :blush:
Sparrows up in our eaves nesting, last year a baby fell out of the nest :( I hope this lot are better parents
Bonkers Mad!!!
19-04-05, 08:00 AM
i only ever get starlings nesting in my wall.
the garden next to mine (not NFH) has been fenced off 30ft from the end and the rest has been left to go wild so there are all kinds of wildlife up there. there are foxes with cubs, blue tits, great tits, magpies, robins, blackbirds, wood pigeons, field mice and wood mice. the only green birds i've seen are ring-necked parakeets and only flying overhead, never seen them land. the little wood mouse is lovely and when i first saw it i thought it was somebodies pet hamster :lol: i never feed the birds because of having so many cats but occasionally i throw some gerbil food over for the mouse (which is probably not the best idea but i love her :blush: )
sorry, went off on one then :blush:
I've just bought a better book - it's an RSPB one, and it looks like I also have Great Tits [ :blush: ]. I wouldn't have known the difference before, but Great Tits have a black strip running down their front.I don't think they are nesting though. I could already recognise robins :thumbs: which we have, and they are so tame - sitting watching us gardening just a couple of feet away. We also have Jays and Magpies and starlings, and the occasional sparrow :thumbs: Back to the book :book: and binoculars [oh yes, I've got them too :thumbs: :bigeyes: :lol: ]
My trusty RSPB book and binoculars tell me my nesting bird is actually a Great Tit, not a Blue Tit. Great Tits are larger, and have the black stripe. The female has a feint, narrow black stripe, which is only obvious to me through the binoculars. So, my nestbox is being taken over by her. :thumbs: She is very busy at the moment - in and several times a minute. The male? - nowhere to be seen - just like home then :lol: :hihi:
Domestic Goddess
19-04-05, 03:39 PM
I think I may have tits!!! Something small keeps dashing in and out of one of our new nest boxes. I THINK it's a blue tit, but it never stays still long enough for me to be able to identify it.
I encourage wildlife into our garden. I actually own 2 x 5 metres of land behind our back fence, but never touched it as there is a fox's den/set/holt there...what DO you call a fox's home??? Anyway, we also have a wildlife pond and get to see frogs, toads, dragonflies and pondskaters etc.
Most common visitors to our bird table are tits, collared doves, blackbirds and robins.....ahhhhhhhh!!!
This site (http://www.beautifulbritain.co.uk/htm/wildlife_gardening/diary2005-1.htm) has pics taken by a webcam inside a nesting box. Me and my daughters often peek to see how things are progressing!!
Aaahh,DG. It does cheer you up when you see a bird using the bird boxes - well it did me, but it's my first time, and I do get a bit over excited :blush: :jump:
We've waited years for this. We really love the robins most of all. They nest in overgrown ivy on an old shed that we want to get rid of, but haven't because of them I think foxes live in a lair don't they? :unsure: . We have foxes too, living on wasteland at the side of the house, and they often come into the garden during the day for a nap!
I'm off to have a look at the link for the nesting birds - thanks for that! :jump:
Lady Penelope
19-04-05, 05:32 PM
:) I love this thread...we all got tits girl's :lol:
Yes thanks Moby did have a look...yes Sp your right think they are Greenfinches.
Oh so sweet seeing the the birds and listening to their song. :blush:
Just waiting for one of the male members to jump on this thread and see what they have to say....you know what they are doing to say don't we? :rolleyes:
:lol: LPxxx
p.s. DG think it might be a Foxes Den :blink:
Doktor Jon
19-04-05, 11:52 PM
So pleased you said it Lady P..... I couldn't possibly :blush: :blush:
As it happens, it's quite easy to set up a CCTV camera inside a nestbox. I actually built one for a friends daughter a couple of years back, complete with Infra Red for watching them in the dark at night. It's a bit late to consider for this year, but well worth the effort if anyone is interested for the future.
Depending on the length of the season Blue Tits can sometimes raise two broods, and apparently, the birds make a couple of hundred feeding visits to the nest every day.
Now that's what you call dedication.
regards
D.J.
http://www.doktorjon.co.uk
[quote]
:) I love this thread...we all got tits girl's :lol:
Ah, but I thought one tit was like the next, LP, and they're not :blush: Mine are Great Tits, and it was much easier when I thought they were blue!! This morning when I came downstairs I went straight to the window to see them. I asked mr.sp [who was already downstairs]if he'd seen any Great Tits.His reply is not to be put here, I mean, really, can't men be serious :blush: .
Seriously though. I really wish we had a camera. She was in and out all day yesterday, with lots of nesting materials. Every now and then she pokes her head out and has alook around. They need at least 600 caterpillars a day when they are feeding their young apparently, so I am not surprised they do a couple of hundred visits a day.
Domestic Goddess
20-04-05, 07:54 AM
Originally posted by sp54@20th April 2005 - 8:17 AM
[ Mine are Great Tits
Now, now no bragging SP!!!!!!!!!!!!! :hihi:
:hihi: :lol: Sorry, DG ;) :blush:
Bonkers Mad!!!
20-04-05, 09:19 AM
well mine arent :cry:
:hihi: :lol: @ BM ;) :bigeyes:
Domestic Goddess
20-04-05, 10:54 AM
The DG household yesterday discussed what we should call our tits.
Mr DG smirked and said "Well, I've always called them Pinky & Perky" :blush:
Both daughters looked at him confused.
We settled on the highly imaginative Mr & Mrs Bluetit
:hihi: :lol: Very classy names, DG :thumbs: . Mr. & Mrs Bluetit sounds good too :clap2:
Lady Penelope
20-04-05, 12:15 PM
:) We should do a calender girls, what do you reckon :lol:
Bonkers Mad!!!
20-04-05, 12:21 PM
LP!!!!!!!
:hihi: :lol: :bigeyes: :clap2: LP
ROFLOL Lady P :lol: :hihi:
:bigeyes: I should have known by mr.sp's smutty remarks this morning, this thread risk degenerating :hihi: :lol:
I need a coffee, been laughing so much, and go and check on my Great Tits. :bigeyes:
But seriously........ I have had to keep chasing a cat away from the bird house this morning :lara: :rant:
Ooh thanks,HN. I shall enjoy looking at that later :thumbs:
Having spent 2 or 3 days busily building the nest, I haven't seen her going into the bird house since yesterday morning. Excuse my ignorance [I'm a first time 'mother' :blush: ] but does that mean she's gone elsewhere, or is she in the nest laying eggs/roosting? Is this the normal pattern? :unsure:
Oh,phew. Thanks for that, moby. I was getting worried, not to mention very disappointed. Glad to hear it's normal though :jump: :)
:cry: Having spent some days making the nest we haven't seen her since. :badmood: I'd recognize her as one of her wings didn't fold right in as it should. We have a lot of cats visit our garden too.
We are still feeding an enomous population of great tits and blue tits though. We seem to have cured our squirrels eating the bird food problem too :thumbs: We found a clear plastic dome called a 'squirrel baffler' and we have placed it under the supply of bird food, Result - the squirrels cannot get over the dome :thumbs: But just because we are softies we have bought the squirrels there own squirrel box for food.
Well we had nowhere leap proof either, so we had to resort to quite a lot of expense, unfortunately! As well as the squirrel baffler we had to buy one of those poles you can put anywhere, and hang feeders from. We bought that first but the little devils skimmed up the pole so easily. So now, we have it well away from anywhere to jump from, and the baffler. They are VERY unhappy about it!! The birds are finally able to feed undisturbed though :thumbs:
Domestic Goddess
15-05-05, 06:52 PM
Our bluetits and still coming and going at a great rate of knots. I acn't hear any cheeping from the box, but haven't ventured too near it.
It's all very exciting!
Poppett
15-05-05, 08:30 PM
Hello everyone - I just knew I was in good company even before I read about all the wildlife we are supporting - I have a fox coming in to feed at night - have nearly cleared the mange here with a dose of something herbal from the National Fox Welfare Association (I bet they have a hard job in some areas). The hedgehog comes each night to the back door when I rattle the dish and as for feeding a mouse how about Ratty - he is very clever indeed - he lives in NFH's shed - no accounting for taste at all is there - and comes out to take food back - he seems to know how cold the night will be preferring to stock up in the day time.
I do have cats but feed the birds like mad - the cats are white and can be seen from outer space so the birds are not worried at all. The main worry to birds here is the Sparrow Hawk who has been ousted from his habitat by housing developments and prefers the plump birds in my garden rather than the sickly weak ones. Actually my main reason for writing was to say that I have been told that what birds you get to nest in a nest box depends on the size of the hole - I am sure I was told that to get bluetits you need the smallest opening and so on up to owls which prefer the whole front to be open - is this right?
But do be careful of the binoculars - my NFH was convinced I was looking at him as if I needed or wanted to magnify the apparition and he made quite a fuss! There always seems to be a downside to some people.
I love to watch the fledglings flying round my garden on the few trees left unvandalised gaining experience of life and taking training flights guided by the parents. All I need now is a ruddy great big vulture to frighten the life out of NFH - anyone oblige?
Hope the baby birds are all ok -
Love to you all
Poppett
Poppett
16-05-05, 06:22 AM
Good Morning Moby
Yes I do feed the fox and he has got into the habit of waiting in the bushes until I have put out the food and he is there - I actually started feeding cat food - the jelly sort but the Fox Welfare said this is too high in certain proteins and to feed dog food. Its an added expense but so worth it to see him - I always think foxes have adapted to us so well - I did draw the line at making him jam sandwiches though. Apparently they have a very sweet tooth! and so i just give him one of these occasionally.
I know of two addresses near here where there is a lair with cubs - I would worry about my rabbits though if they decided to do that here.
With best wishes
Poppett
We have visiting foxes too. Sometimes a pair of them can be seen in the garden, but usually it's just the one.
Yesterday was a lovely day here and I did a lot of gardening. We have an unused outhouse to the side of us [opp. side to NFH house] and all afternoon there was a fox up there lying in the sunshine napping. Every now and then he would look up and stare at me for a while, but I clearly wasn't bothering him. He just had a 'why is that stupid human squirting water on the flowers ' kind of look and went back to dozing.
Really upset about the bird house not being used though.
Poppett, I think you're right about the size of the hole in nesting boxes. Apparently robins like theirs quite open, and tits like a small hole.
Can we borrow your vulture if you get hold of one? :hihi: :lol:
Poppett
16-05-05, 06:50 PM
Dear Sp54
how lovely for you - I wish my fox was as tame.
Yes, yes, Yes - I will lend you the Vulture but how about a brickie friend of my with a novel answer to the NFh - he says he will come round in the night and brick up their front door and windows - what a lovely thought. I do have some very good friends apart from all the wildlife - one says he can do air sea rescue in reverse!!! - good init.
Had a lovely afternoon today - italian class came for practice - we have tea and cakes and do some homework, chat a lot and it does make me feel better.
Hope you have things like this happen to you too? Do you have a big garden?
We do - we are very lucky except for saddam lookalike.
with love
Poppett
Poppett
17-05-05, 08:02 AM
Morning Moby -hope you are well today.
Well, yes hedgehogs seem to eat anything and everything but strictly speaking the advice is to feed cat food but only the jelly sort - mine seem to survive and this year we have a "blondie" - she or he is quite pale. You can actually by hedgehog food in a tin called - wait for it -------"Spike".
I have two rabbits who have just left their winter quarters in our small sun room to go back into the garden - they seem unaffected by the fox but I do shut them in the hutch at night which has a large secure run with a lid around it. I also think you are right anything with a full tum is less likely to attack I feed everything like fury - squirrels included and they do not seem to do damage to the garden.
By the way I am attempting to fatten up a large blackback seagull who sits on the roof making an enormous racket with its feet - think this could take the place of a vulture if I make it angry enough - watch out NFH!.
With love
Poppett
Poppett, I like the sound of air sea rescue in reverse :thumbs: . Think I know a couple of people I would like to see that happen to ;) :rolleyes: :lol:
Our garden is about 70'x35' but considering we are in a town it is quite secluded and quiet [apart from NFH] and surrounded by trees on all sides. We have always encouraged wildlife. The only 'wildlife' not welcome is our NFH !! :hihi: :lol: -the wildest of them all ;) :rolleyes:
Seagulls can be vicious can't they? I love to hear them, but a couple of years ago we arrived in St.Ives Cornwall for a holiday, went into a shop that sold the most delicious ice cream, and the minute I stepped outside a seagull swooped down and stole my ice cream!! :blush: :badmood: . All I was left with was about an inch of cornet :hihi: :lol: :blink: . I hadn't even had a lick :cry: