The Nest Box 2011

2 July - It's happened again - another one of those gaps caused not by an unannounced holiday but the dreaded energy gap that I wander into far too often these days. I apologise for the failure of the webcam for a few days.  But enough of the moan, I will attempt to fill some of the gap as and when I can. In the meantime there is a bit of special news to record.

Three days ago we gained a smashing little grandson to add to the delightful duo of granddaughters that we enjoy already, but that isn't the unexpected news that needs to be recorded here.

Some time this morning, the 'new' pair of Swifts in SW-ri produced an egg.

Throughout June the pair have been building a relatively substantial nest of feathers, and over the last week have been spending more and more time together in the box during the day.

This seems awfully late in the season to be producing a clutch of eggs. This image of the three nests emphasizes the gap between this event and the clutches in the other boxes.

The chicks in SW-up are just a week away from fledging, and one can be seen looking out of the box. The pair in SW-le hatched nine days later and are due to fledge on 18/19 July.

Even if we start counting from today, the egg in SW-ri wouldn't hatch until 20/22 July, with the chick not fledging until 25/27 August.

It will be interesting to see if a second egg appears, but I have to wonder how successful this clutch will be. They will be very lonely Swifts by the last week of August!

Turning my attention to the pairs of nest boxes that I put up on neighbours' houses last year, I can confirm that in one case both boxes are now occupied by pairs of Swifts, and on another house one of the boxes is definitely occupied, and there may be at least one bird in the other box. I haven't been able to observe the boxes on the other two houses - I will probably resort to inspecting them once the season is over.

Curiously, even with a great deal of activity around the houses each evening, so far I have seen just one very brief visit made to box SW-lo on our house.

Perhaps even more curious was this Swift, evidently hoping to roost on top of the SW-up/SW-lo box. These rather shaky pictures were taken at 9pm (26 June) as it endevoured to get into the small gap, just a couple of inches high, between the roof of the box and the eves of our roof. Up to the day before this had been the site of a successful House Sparrow nest from which at least two youngsters had fledged.

A quarter of an hour later I could still see a bit of the Swift's tail protruding from the space.

Despite not having kept up with the diaries I have kept records of the visits made by the three sets of Swifts each day, and eventually I will add daily summaries to the June pages.

4 July - A largely bright, summer's day with a high of 23C and a south south-westerly breeze setting in during the late afternoon.

Yesterday was largely uneventful in the Swift boxes (some details will be added eventually!), today the occupants of SW-ri have produced their second egg, and it looks as though incubation is now under way.

It seems that late broods like this are not so unusual in UK Swifts, so it looks as though the diary will now continue until the end of August!

Over in SW-up the chicks were both looking out during the early afternoon. I headed out with my camera, but unfortunately I think my red shirt acted as a danger flag and they retreated out of sight before I could point the lens in their direction.

10 July - The timelapse recorder continues to follow progress in the boxes, but I continue to find it difficult to catch up. It's very frustrating - I do intend to complete the diary of the Swifts' progress, but it is going to have to wait a bit longer, probably until after the present pairs of chicks have fledged.

Today has been a pleasant one weather-wise, with sunny periods, no rain, and a high of 21C. The chicks in SW-up are due to fledge at any time now, but are still in the box this evening. They have been looking out frequently, but as before they retire as soon as I walk below the box. In SW-le the chicks are also starting to venture to the exit, although they are not due to leave for another week.

In SW-ri incubation is going on with the pair behaving more like the parents in SW-le than SW-up in that they seem to be leaving the eggs unattended quite often, although I need to see the actual daily timings to confirm that.

Last week I recorded two four hour sessions to confirm the continuing use of one of the pairs of nest boxes on neighbours' houses. For the first session the camera covered both entrances, and sure enough the left box has a pair of occupants, but I only saw a single bird either entering or leaving. Of course, that doesn't mean that there is just one bird using the box, there could have been 'change-overs' taking place.

The next evening I used a longer lens and concentrated on the right-hand box and the resultant recording was puzzling. Over the 4 hour period from 6-10pm not one bird entered or left the box!

Since then I have read reports that some non-breeding Swifts may have already started their migration back to Central/Southern Africa. Perhaps that could be the case here. Certainly there has been a sharp decline in aerial activity by Swifts during the last week. This weekend I have seen only a handful of Swifts at any one time, no more than six at any one time.

13 July - A dry day that was mainly cloudy with just a few glimpses of the sun. this was reflected in the temperatures which remained between 16  and 17C just about all day, apart from a brief interlude when it peaked at 18C late in the afternoon during one of those sunny periods. There was a steady breeze from the north all day.

The youngsters in SW-up are still with us tonight. Over the last couple of days their parents have reduced the number of times that they return to the box from 12 to 21 each day (over the last two weeks) to just eight times after their first departure at 7.23am this morning. When the second parent finally returned at 9.25pm it did not offer the chicks food, so they had just seven food deliveries during the day.

The chicks spent quite a bit of time looking out today, and as you can see they didn't retreat when I turned up on the driveway below the box.

In addition to time spent at the entrance they also did quite a bit of wing stretching, especially in the corners of the box. Eventually I will be adding pictures to show this.

While the parents' visits to the box were few in number, they sometimes stayed for quite some time, over an hour on a couple of occasions, and like the chicks they would spend time looking out.

This was not always in preparation to leave - very often it seemed more like a break before returning to the chicks who then seemed to expect more food!

In SW-le the chicks are doing well, with lots of wing flapping and stretching sessions. Thanks I assume to the cloudy conditions, the last two days have been rather quiet in terns of visits here too. Today there were just fourteen returns to the box, eight by the female and six by the male.

On most days it has been the female that has brought in the most food, sometimes making twice as many visits than the male during a day. However, on a few days it has been the male who made the larger number of returns to the box, so I need to go through my records more carefully to establish if there is anything resembling a pattern.

At the moment it may be easier to see a pattern in the behaviour of the pair in SW-ri. Over the last two days incubation has become full-time in the cooler conditions, and the eggs have not been left unattended at all, and the days have seen simple sequences of change-overs taking place. Today there were eight change-overs, plus one bird returning at the end of the day.

During the morning and early afternoon the timing of a return seemed to be governed not only by an internal clock mechanism, but just as much by how long it took to find a feather. Out of sixteen returns to the box yesterday, a feather was brought in fifteen times (the exception being the first return to the box at 6.57am.).

I'm slowly getting back to some semblance of 'normality' in that I even got to take a few pictures in the garden today, although their appearance in the garden diary will have to wait a bit longer, as will the addition of cctv images to this diary. That task is not as efficient as it used to, and should be, not just because of my weariness, but a technical issue that I didn't sort out as well as I had hoped before the nesting season started. Once the first pair of chicks fledge I hope that it will give me more flexibility to start sorting things out.

14 July - In stark contrast to the last few days, there wasn't a cloud to be seen today, and the temperature rose to 23C in a slight north-westerly breeze. It was still around 20C at 9pm.

In SW-up it certainly looks as though the parents are encouraging their offspring to fledge, although they are still here tonight. During the day the parents returned a total of just eight times. In the long gaps between visits the two chicks spent much of their time looking out between bouts of wing stretching.

In SW-le it was again the female providing the most food, returning to the box ten times against her partner's 6 times.

In SW-ri there were just eight change-overs during the course of the day, and as usual, each time a bird returned during the morning and afternoon (seven times) it had a feather in its beak. It was only i the evening that the birds returned 'empty-beaked' on two occasions.

15 July - The first chick fledges.

As I write this just after 8.30pm it appears as though there are two chicks in SW-up. However, looks can be misleading. One of the pair fledged this morning at 7.17am. The remaining chick showed no sign of leaving during the day, which isn't surprising when you consider that there was a gap of a day between the first two eggs hatching on 4/5 June (the third chick that hatched on 8 June having subsequently died)

The remaining chick wasn't forgotten by the parents, with them returning five times during the day before returning for the night at 7.27pm and 9.23pm.

In SW-le the chicks are approaching the exit more frequently now, and there has been some serious wing stretching going on. Their parents returned eighteen times during the day, with the female accounting for ten of them.

In SW-ri the pair continue to be diligent about their incubation duties with nine change-overs seen today, although one partner was left to sit on the eggs for over three hours this afternoon. Again, apart form first thing in the morning and in the evening each time a bird returned it brought in a feather.

During the morning and early afternoon the weather was very good, sunny, warm (high 22C) and with a light, variable breeze from the south west. However, as the afternoon progressed high cloud rolled in from that direction and by early evening the sky was grey. During the evening there were the first spots of rain of what is forecast to be a wet weekend. I trust it won't be too bad for the second fledging from SW-up.

16 July - The second chick in SW-up is still with us, although it must have been pretty hungry by this evening as its parents have returned just once during the day, when they stayed for a couple of hours during the worst of today's rain. The chick has spent much of the rest of the day looking out, and although it seemed to get very close to leaving a few times it always ended up back on the nest. One of the parents returned for the night at 9.29pm with the other arriving at 9.36pm. Over the next quarter of an hour or so, and while the parents are occupied with mutual preening around their necks, the youngster was perched on the brink of the exit....

The weather wasn't actually as bad as we had expected. A dull start with drizzle gave way to periods of heavy rain. These eased off as the afternoon progressed, finally giving way to a bright evening. Before the heavy rain started there must have been thirty or more Swifts overhead, the most we've seen for a couple of weeks.

Today's weather had an effect on the adults in both the other boxes. In SW-le the parents have returned with food just nine times today (female 7; male 2), and the chicks saw neither parent between 8.59am and 2.15pm (the wettest period of the day). Tonight the returned briefly at 9.35 (male)/9.37pm (female) but did not feed the chicks before they left together again just a minute later. They finally returned for the night at 9.46pm.

In SW-ri there were just five change-overs all day, and the eggs were left unattended between 6.54pm and 7.33pm after one bird had been left unrelieved since 2.53pm. After that gap there was just one change-over during the evening before the second bird returned for the night at 9.27pm.

17 July - The second chick fledges from SW-up just as I'm thinking that were would have to wait for another night to pass!

Today's weather was definitely not suited to mid-July. Temperatures fluctuated between 15-17C for most of the day, apart from a brief spell when it hit 18C in a bright spell during the late afternoon. While there was no heavy rain today we were plagued by showers carried in on a westerly breeze. The conditions appeared to have only a slight effect on activities in the three nest boxes.

In SW-up the parents had a late start this morning, not leaving until 8.28 and 9.37am, and once out they didn't return until this evening. Apart from a few energetic wing exercise sessions, the chick's day was shared between resting on the nest and looking out, although it never seemed to be near to leaving.

This evening the first parent returned at 7.34pm, with its partner appearing at 8.51pm, and for a while it appeared that all three birds were settling in for the night, albeit a bit earlier than usual.

However, it wasn't long before the chick was looking out once more. At around 9.45 it became more animated, stretching its wings, perching precariously over the opening and making brief excursions back to its parents who were settled on the nest. By 9.55pm it became obvious that the chick was not going to stay much longer, and sure enough, at 10.02pm it finally disappeared out of the exit, seemingly un-noticed by its parents!

I couldn't resist heading out into the driveway to check the ground but there was no sign of it - there was still a bit of light left in the sky, apart from the glow of the street lighting so I can only hope that the fledgling got to a safe altitude to rest on the wing overnight.

Over in SW-le the chicks are preparing for their fledging later in the week by exercising their wings from time to time. One chick even did this on top of the platform that is over the entrance. During the day their mother returned to the box seven times, one more than their father.

 In SW-ri the behaviour pattern was back to normal today, with nine change-overs seen before the final return by a parent at 8.51pm. By this time next week  they should be sitting on chicks.

18 July - The weather was the worst we've seen so far this 'summer'. Gray skies all day, and rather than showers we have had drizzle through to heavy rain with just the occasional dry but brief periods. The temperature reached 17C briefly in the early afternoon and was back down to 13C by 5pm.

Nest box SW-up remained empty all day once the adults left at 8.55am. This evening the first of them returned for the night at an early 5.51pm, with its partner entering the box at 7.02pm.

The other two boxes were active but clearly affected by the weather conditions. In SW-ri the first bird left at 8.44am and didn't return (with a feather, despite the conditions!) until 12.03pm for the first change-over. Its partner left a minute later and didn't return until 5.51pm (also with a feather). The third and final change-over took place about an hour later (6.57pm), although the bird that left didn't do so until 8.48pm. When it returned at 8.55pm the pair settled down for the night.

In SW-le the day also started late, with the male out first at 8.49pm, his partner leaving at 9.04am. During the day the female returned to the box six times and the male just three times. Their final returns came within a half minute of each other at 9.34pm, with the male arriving first.

During the day the chicks once again moved between nest and exit quite a bit, and there was quite a bit of preening going on. Wing exercises, mainly stretching out to the side to adopt the typical 'flying swift' posture. This also involved the exercising of tail muscles as the tail was lifted or twisted to one side or the other. More often than not the whole exercise is performed up against the sides of the box or even one of the corners, with the head pointing up and the wings stretched along the two adjoining box sides.

19 July - A better start today with some sunshine during the morning after a dull, misty start with the temperature down to 11C. By the afternoon the rain was back, with periods of heavy rain right through into the late evening, bringing a premature end to nest box activities. The daytime temperature remained between 16-17C, but did manage to reach 19C during a brief break in the clouds in the late afternoon.

SW-up is no more than a roost for the parents now. They left together at 8.36am and returned at 8.27 and 9.05pm.

In SW-le the parents left for the first time at 7.33am (male) and 8.39am (female). During the day the male returned six times and the female eight times, with their final returns being at 8.23pm  for the male and 8.58pm for his partner. The chicks continue to make what appears to be good progress.

Their neighbours in SW-ri restricted their activities today. First bird out left at 7.25am and then there were three change-overs  before noon. At just after 1pm the bird that had been sitting on the eggs also headed out, leaving the eggs unattended for thirteen minutes before a parent returned. After that there were just two more change-overs before the final return took place at 8.23pm.  I can only hope that the weather improves by the time their eggs hatch.

20 July - A somewhat similar day to yesterday, with it dry in the morning but wet for the rest of the day. The high of 17C came during the morning before the temperature settled to between 14-15C during the afternoon and evening.

In SW-up the two adults are still with us tonight, having left for the day together at 7.27am and returning, again together, at 9.10pm.

In SW-le I'm not sure whether to blame the weather, or is it that the parents are now encouraging their offspring to think about fledging. The both left at 7am, and didn't return until 11.43am when they arrived together. The male left at 11.53am and the female stayed until 12.02pm.

After that there was another long gap before the female returned at 5.39pm and stayed for twenty minutes. She appeared again at just after 8pm for a stay of eight minutes. Then it was the male's turn, coming in at 8.36pm - he stayed until 9.04pm. Finally, the pair returned at 9.23pm.

This meant that the female returned just four times today and the male just three, the lowest number to date. Between visits the chicks often became quite animated, with lots of wing stretching, periods looking out (more than yesterday) and more time was spent on top the the ledge over the exit!

The forecast is for a similar pattern of weather tomorrow before it improves, hopefully in time for fledging.

In SW-ri it is more likely that the weather had some influence on the number of change-overs today. The first partner left at 5.51am, and after that there were six change-overs before the final return at 9.09pm. At no time today were the eggs uncovered, let alone left unattended, despite one of the pair being left to sit for over four hours this afternoon.

21 July - Better weather today, dry and bright, with a north-easterly breeze and a high temperature of 18C. After dusk there was some drizzle.

SW-up is still being used by the parents who left this morning at a very late 9.12am. I was surprised to see one of them return at 11.50am, bringing a feather into the box, and another was brought in when the first of the pair returned for the night at 7.55pm. The second bird returned at 8.42pm.

In SW-le the chicks, one especially had numerous wing stretching sessions during the day, and with the improved weather they had a couple more deliveries of food than they received  yesterday. The female returned to the box five times, and the male four.

Despite the improved conditions, in SW-ri it was a tale of long sessions on the eggs once more. I recorded just four change-overs. One of the pair sat from 10.21am until it left at 2.03pm, leaving the eggs unattended for just over an hour. They had retired for the night by just after 8pm.

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