Male blue tit feeds female

I thought I would post a quick video showing how our blue tit pair are getting on in our nest box. The male has been feeding the female several times a day, sometimes in the nest box, and sometimes in the surrounding trees. I have to say, even though this our first proper nest box diary, it is looking quite promising so far.

In the video, it looks as though the male brings in what looks like a small caterpillar, or maybe a bit of fat from the fat block feeder in the garden.

Hopefully, the promising start to this nest box diary will continue into the next few weeks. I'll keep you posted :-)

I came home today to find...

... Seven eggs in the blue tit nest in our camera nest box! I left you last Friday with a picture of the finished nest. I then went on holiday to Devon, in the hope that when we got back, our blue tit female would have laid a few eggs. She didn't disappoint :-)

We've been away for a week, so she must've laid an egg a day, so far without skipping a day. Blue tits start to incubate their eggs when the clutch is almost complete apparently. Our female has started incubating her eggs (although not full time), so I'm guessing she has maybe one or two more still to go. I will try to get up early tomorrow morning to see if I can catch her laying her last (or second last) egg. It may be that she skips a day tomorrow morning, as blue tits often do.

The video below shows the seven eggs, and then the female coming in to incubate them. She left the nest every 15-20 minutes, so she isn't always on the eggs just yet. I'm guessing she will incubate them for longer periods tomorrow.

I have seen the male blue tit feed the female outside the nest box several times over the last couple of weeks. Today, as I was in the garden, I saw both the male and the female go in the box, but because I was outside at the time, I was unable to record what was going on inside the box. The video below however shows the female coming into the box, taking a while to settle down on the eggs and then calling for the male, who didn't arrive this time. Turn the volume up to hear the female calling if you can.

I'm so glad now that I decided to put the camera in the box a couple of weeks ago when I noticed the female coming in with nesting material. It really is exciting stuff. I will post about some of the sightings on our Devon holiday soon, maybe not tomorrow though. Anyway, have a great weekend :-)

The finished nest

Mrs blue tit finally seems to have finally stopped bringing nesting material into the box, and the nest now looks complete. I will just leave you with a screen shot of the nest as I leave to go on holiday to Devon for a week...

The image doesn't quite show the colours that I am currently viewing live on my laptop screen but I hope you can get the idea :-) She still hasn't laid her first egg so I guess that will come whilst we are away. I wonder how many eggs we will see when I get back...