Go to the last entry on this page ........Go to the previous entry30 July - Today I have looked skywards a number of times, and for the first time since the end of April I haven't seen a single Swift overhead. As I mentioned yesterday, I have now switched the webcam over to the House Martin nests, and will keep it running for at least a couple of weeks. I have not seen any Martins today, and I'm not particularly optimistic that any will turn up in the nests. However, it seems that the webcam may well have something to follow! It wasn't until this evening that I started simplifying the cobweb of wiring that helps organise my various video feeds, and when I reconnected the quad images for the webcam a surprise awaited me.
The last time we had a Blue Tit roosting in these nests was in March/April this year. As the day progressed the skies turned grey and we had a bit of rain this evening - perhaps it was this that spurred the Blue Tit to head into the shelter.
1 August - While I have seen no Swifts over us during the last two days, there are still some about. I was in the garden of one of my sons (no more than half a mile away from our garden) and saw three Swifts.
Back home, the Swift boxes are being visited by Sparrows during the daytime, but tonight they are empty.
In contrast to that the House Martin nests are occupied tonight - by a House Sparrow in nest 1 and a Blue Tit in nest 2. Last night the only bird roosting was the Blue Tit, occupying nest 1.
At the moment the webcam images are very murky at night - as I write this tonight the Blue Tit is all but invisible! I hope to improve them a little bit by making adjustments at the 'house end' of the wiring. If that fails I may consider replacing the IR LEDs in the boxes themselves, but that will have to wait until the Autumn.
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As
I mentioned yesterday, there has been no activity in the Martin nests since
the Sparrow visits back in May (confirmed by the lack of droppings seen in
yesterday's images), but tonight we have a roosting Blue Tit in nest #3.
