The 2012 Nestbox Diary

March/April (part 2)

Go to the last entry on this page                           Previous entry

1 April -  As we begin what could be an eventful month I almost feel it necessary to apologise for the apparent inactivity on the webcam! In reality this is far from the truth, with a parent Sparrow present in the box at nearly all times, and periods during which the two adults are bringing in additional nesting materials just about every time they swop over sitting duties.

This morning between 7.30am and 9.30am the pair swopped over 18 times and the eggs were left unattended no more than 10 minutes in total.

As the Sparrows make progress in the box, so are the Swifts as they move across Europe. They have been seen flying over Lisbon, Portugal since 27 March, and today Swifts were seen for the first time over Modena in northern Italy.

2 April - Just a brief entry, with a sequence which is typical of what happens throughout the day at the moment.



This change-over took place at around 7.10am. The female returned to the box with a down feather. She paused just momentarily before diving into the nest cup.

Her partner left the shelter of the nest just as quickly, but then spent the next few minutes looking out before he finally left - in the final image I'm afraid that it's a case of 'spot the tails' !

Several more change-overs took place in the next half hour.

3 April - On a day that saw a couple of welcome rain showers the only report to pass on about  the Sparrows is that during the heaviest shower the male sheltered in the box for quite some time.

At the other end of the garden there has been an interesting development on rather than in the Blue/Great Tit box. If you followed my diaries last year you may recall that the Blackbirds attempted to nest on the box roof, only to be thwarted by very hot weather. Well, this morning a pair of Blackbirds were inspecting the spot once again.


The first visit, by the female came at just after 7.45am, followed five minutes later by the male. They visited again at 8.20/8.22am and the male returned to spend almost a minute standing on the spot at around 10.25am.

These had to be inspection visits as there was no attempt to search for food. The male actually did a full rotation  during his second visit as though checking the dimensions.




Looking back at yesterday's recording I've just found that the pair also visited the same spot in the morning, at around 9am. On that occasion it was the male that arrived first, with his partner arriving very soon after he left. I see no sign of any visits on the recording from 1 April.

I first saw the female gathering nesting materials back on 28 February but I had seen no further signs of nesting by the pair since then. It will be interesting to watch out for visits to collect wet materials from the ponds over the next few days. It would be nice if they were to choose the nestbox roof - at least I know that the pair are aware of it, and with the female having had to restart nesting up to seven times in the past it might be used before the season comes to an end.

The one limitation from a technical point of view is that the camera is dependent on daylight so that the image is black at night.

Talking of camera limitations, while it is not possible to improve the present webcam image for the present Sparrow brood, if there is time between the Sparrow chicks fledging and the arrival of the Swifts I may install a second camera in SW(le). It would be mounted above the entrance, looking back towards the nest cup area, giving me the possibility of seeing into the heart of the nest should the box be used by Sparrows again in the future.

The first Swifts have reached the Netherlands, and I've just read a reliable report of one being spotted in Berlin, Germany. It seems that they may arrive here earlier rather than later!

4 April - This morning once again my attention has been drawn to the bottom of the garden as the Blackbirds continue to visit the nest box roof, increasing my optimism that we may see nest building there soon.

The first visit by the female took place at around 6.30am with the male not appearing until 7am. After that the pair visited another four times by 10.10am, with the female usually first. I have yet to see the pair together.

So far I have been recording the image from that camera as part of a quad image (see beginning of diary) so that yesterday's captured images were of very low quality.



I have now switched to recording just from that camera so that future pictures will be much better, although the wide angle lens used means that focusing has to be concentrated on the central region of the view.

This visit took place just afterwards, at 11.10am - his partner didn't show up this time.







It was a pity that I hadn't switched to single camera recording earlier this morning, because at 10.10am we had a visit from another bird that is obviously nest building - a Wren!

This little bird was interested in using some of the straw that I put on the roof during the winter.

Just to put this site into some sort of perspective, this is it as seen through the branches of the Birch tree. The entrance to the nest box appears light thanks to daylight being reflected off the glass panel at the rear of the box.

Above the box there is a wire lattice canopy, installed to give protection from cats. Look carefully at the large image and you will see some garden screening fabric in the top left corner. This was put up in a hurry last year when the Blackbirds attempted to nest during very hot weather.

After dusk this evening I intend to replace this with fronds of conifer.

Tonight all is well with the Sparrows, with the female tucked up in the nest with her eggs, while her partner roosts just inside the entrance to SW(up).

5 April - An overcast, damp morning with nothing new to report from the Sparrows' nest, and only a bit of on-camera activity by the Blackbirds. It doesn't look as though the shading I added last night will be tested out today!





The female only visited once this morning, at 9.30am, with the male appearing six minutes later.







He returned to the site twice more over the next ten minutes. During the final time he shuffled the straw with his feet and used his beak to move some of it, although there was no indication that he was looking for insects as he did so. It appeared to be much more a rearranging exercise, and afterwards he spent the best part of a minute just standing there and looking out.




There were no further visits this morning, but the male has visited twice since noon, at 12.25 and 12.37pm., and the female appeared briefly just after 1pm

Tonight, weather permitting, I shall be wiring the site for sound. With the nest box itself remaining empty I am going to move the microphone that has been used in there so that it points towards the box roof from above.

6 April - On a bright but frosty morning it appears as though the female Blackbird may have found another spot that she prefers for her new brood!

Both birds visited the roof site at just before 8.30am this morning but while the male appeared several times his partner only visited once, and that briefly. Once again, the male shuffled the straw with his feet and used his beak to move some of it - more so than yesterday.

Some twenty minutes later I spotted the female collecting a beak full of soggy bits from the side of the big pond, but when she flew off it was into the conifers, and not to the roof site! I only saw her do this once, but it does suggest that we will not be watching her family developing this time around. This will be especially disappointing as our eldest grand-daughter is now old enough to enjoy the experience for the first time.

Never mind, The roof camera will continue to record, along with sound as of last night, and I'll be checking it regularly just in case. With the Blackbird having multiple broods we won't give up on them quite yet!

As I write this the microphone has just picked up several bursts of the unmistakable, shrill song of a Wren - beautiful!

During the rest of the morning I saw the female collecting nesting materials from around the pond only twice more more. However, a check of the video recording this evening reveals that as if to emphasise that the roof site hasn't been completely forgotten there was another visit by the pair at 10.15am, a while before the female visited the pond for the second time.

Again, it was the male who arrived at the roof site first, shuffling his feet briefly before leaving moments before his partner landed. She was far more nervous about something and left almost straight away.

7 April - Cancel the disappointiment!

This morning the Blackbirds again visited before nine o'clock, the female much more relaxed, returning several times before the male made a couple of visits. He was alone when he returned at 10.13am, and when the female appeared once more at around 10.35am she did more than just look around - she shuffled!

And she did so repeatedly over several further visits during the next five minutes, between pulling the straw in towards her. Subsequently, and perhaps more significantly she brought in a small amount of mud and more straw.

It looks as though she may have had second thoughts about the 'other' nest site.

In these images the left-hand time code represents the time elapsed since recording began at 5am.




With the Sparrows almost completely hidden from view for the moment I'm tempted to switch the webcam to cover this activity for a while, although it will mean no image at night as the camera does not have an infra-red capability. Also, I'm tempted to change the lens on the camera to one with a slightly narrower field of view. I may try this out after dark tonight as I don't expect the female to take up residence at this stage.

8 April - Well, I switched the webcam over to the Blackbirds yesterday, and it looks as though it will be returning to the Sparrows today!


On a dull, damp morning I didn't record the blackbirds' first visits until 8.45am. The male arrived first but soon made way for his partner. She set about a series of shuffles and all looked well. The male visited again at 9.17 and 9.51am before the female reappeared at 10.08am. This time she simply looked around and left again. Finally, the male visited again at 10.30am, after which neither bird has returned (as of 5.30pm).

Shortly after 2pm I spotted the female down at the big pond, pulling out wet plant debris and I watched as she flew first into our Birch tree and then straight past the nest box!. She returned for a two more loads before disappearing for the rest of the afternoon. As far as I can tell she was heading into the conifers, so it appears that she has once again changed her mind about where to have her next brood.

I have gone through the recordings to try and see/hear a reason for what has occurred, but I'm at a loss.

As it happened, there were visits to the nest box site by a 'thief'  during the day. A Wren appeared twice to take away bits for its nest. Here it is removing bits previously  brought in by the Blackbird.

And it has been particularly vocal during the day, although I cannot see that being enough to drive away the Blackbirds!




My focus of attention will now return to the Sparrows, their eggs being due to hatch in 3-5 days, although I intend to continue my daily recording of the nest box roof just in case the Blackbirds have yet another change of plans.

- Click on the images to see larger versions -