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Still roosting

We have a Camera Nestbox in our garden, put up March 2007, and have been delighted to see a Blue Tit roosting in it after we cleaned it out and put some wood shavings on the floor. We had no idea of this bird or others would continue to use our box. I am delighted to report that a month on it is still being used. I cannot be certain that it is the same bird but I am guessing that it is. I am also guessing it is the female who used this box in Spring this year.

Tucked up for the night at 6pm tonight, you can see below, is our Blue Tit rooster. However, we did have a concern that our box was leaking two weeks ago. You can see the wet walls in the second photo below but it does appear to have dried up since then as the photo above shows. Perhaps the rain came in the entrance hole at a different angle and that was the cause. We will keep an eye on this the next time we have heavy rain. I don’t believe our Nestbox has had snow on its roof either so we will need to watch for that too. Perhaps we should brush any snow off from the window above. If the holes in the roof are covered we will not be able to see in it anyway to check on it.

Dark, wet evenings of late have meant that I have been unable to catch any video footage of our Blue Tit rooster in our Nestbox when it comes in as it is only lit by natural light. However, back in the middle of November we were very surprised to see a Blue Tit in our Nestbox one sunny lunchtime! Again, I’ve no way of telling if it is the same bird but I can tell that I perhaps I put too much wood shavings in the Nestbox!

Blue tit rooster on lunchtime visit, video 0:39 with background music, try 480p quality.

The photos above were taken from our Camera Nestbox on December 2nd (with rooster) and November 20th (with wet walls). The video above was taken from out Camera Nestbox on November 16th 2007.

7 thoughts on “Still roosting

  1. Hey Shirl. Cute video. Why do you think you put too many shavings in the nestbox?? I bet the little Tit would rearrange the shavings even if there weren’t so many in there.

  2. It looks like your “rooster” is digging herself in! Maybe she has heard that snow’s on the way… Nice to know they are using it. I didn’t realise they would use them for roosting. Now I’m going to have to clear out my boxes and put in some shavings too!

  3. Great video Shirl, never seen a bird roosting before like you have shown in your photos.

    We have a next box in the tree behind our house but the ivy has taken over, after seeing your pics and vid I’ll be out there this weekend sorting it out.
    Mike.

  4. The little bird looks cold. I think it’s so neat that you have a camera to actually get footage of the bird in the nestbox.

  5. Hi again, Lisa, Jane, Mr McGregor’s Daughter, Mike and Robin 😀

    Lisa – Thanks! Yes I agree that the Blue Tit would probably move things around just as she did when building her nest in the Spring. The reason I wondered if I put in too much wood shavings was that the RSPB suggested you add a handful and as that didn’t cover the floor I decided to add more 😀

    Jane – We have been delighted to see our Nestbox being used again. We followed the instructions of the manufacturer who had passed on the advice of the RSPB. This is the first winter we have had our Nestbox so I hope the camera survives the cold. It has been fantastic to see inside a Nestbox. We also have a terrace Nestbox, an open fronted one and three roosting pockets tidied up in the ivy covering my pergola. The terrace also has wood shavings but no camera. I should put my video camera out before dark and see if any birds are using it too. I really was quite a surprise to see a rooster and it is lovely to hear it through the speakers tapping as it moves in the Nestbox as I sit here . Good luck with yours 😀

    Mr McGregor’s Daughter – You are welcome! It really is a very cute bird and there have been two pairs buzzing around my garden. Some evenings we have seen her looking like she was expecting company and one night she spent a while looking out the entrance. Perhaps in the future I will be able to show video of her with her mate 😀

    Fen – Thanks! I took a while choosing the music for this one. I had more videos captured but managed to delete a load by accident! I’ll catch the bird tucking in for the night again but you can see how she did this in April. Good luck with clearing out your Nestbox. I have read that if a bird uses it now to roost it could use it for nesting next Spring. You could get some great juvenile shots from your garden 😀

    Robin – Funnily enough the little Blue Tit should be quite cosy in our Nestbox as it is east facing. We will just have to watch out for the snow and any leaks. It is very windy tonight and I can hear it through the speakers so she will definitely be cosier than her mate – unless he is in our Terrace Nestbox! Yes, it really is fantastic to be able to see in the Nestbox we only got this box in March this year. Hopefully we will be able to see eggs being laid again next year (I was getting up at 5am to see this) and this time see the chicks survive 😀

  6. I was reading some of your posts again, and it reminded me of some film I took of Spotted Flycatchers nesting in a nest box on the side of my house last year. I’ve managed to get the film onto my blog… not bad quality (wonder if I can remember what I did???) Let me know what you think.

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