Situated
in a suburban back
garden in West Derby Liverpool , A Schwegler Woodcrete
nestbox,
and a purpose built Blue/Great Tit Box have been
placed facing North/North-East.
This
website follows the progress of our nesters as
they build their nest, lay eggs and rear their young.
Again
this year nobody or
should I say no bird has shown an active interest in
the Sparrow Terraces yet; the Sparrow population
seem content with
their traditional nesting places in the area that
remain, namely Privet, Ivy enveloped Conifer and the
eaves of certain 'old build' neighbouring
houses.....Such is life or should I say nature..
This is the thing with nest boxes you put up what you
view as a ' Des Res' in a prime spot and for
some reason - they don't get past the viewing stage,
left on the market....
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Warning: Egg collecting is destructive, selfish
and immoral.
In
Britain, egg collecting is against the Law.
It has been illegal to take birds' eggs from the
wild since 1954 and
can result in fines and imprisonment.
The potential maximum fine for each wild bird's
egg is £5,000 and/or six month's imprisonment.
Report
a wildlife crime
http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/policy/wildbirdslaw/report.asp
If you would prefer to speak to somebody please
call the RSPB on 01767 680 551 (England and
Wales)
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A series of
pictures taken from inside
the nestboxes.
Meet
Fancy
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Fancy
and her partner Fernando started looking at the new
wooden nestbox- the Big Brother box in
March. The box has 2 cameras, now housing
an additional camera in the side which hopefully
will give us a view across the nest - as long as
our nester doesn't pile her nesting material
against the window!..
 
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and Fernando
(someone
called Torres??!)
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Fernando
has classic male Great Tit markings, his black
chest stripe running widely down from his throat,
his
chest and extending across the belly to the base of his legs.
A handsome Boy. |
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Our
Great Tits were not the only viewers, a Blue Tit
couple also had a looksy, as well as viewing the
Schweglar box and Sparrow terrace, however the great
tits won out and took up residence
.
Unfortunately
the other boxes remain empty, possibly because the
Great Tits have stamped their mark on the garden,
keeping their smaller cousins away.
30th
March Nesting starts
Bang
on time - Fancy started nesting on the same date as
our previous nesters in 2007 & 2008 - Would
you believe it! Lots of moss and grasses being brought in.
Thursday
9th April
I
would say the nest is nearing completion. Fancy has brought
in a lot of soft wool and a few feathers over
the last couple of days, tonight was the first
time she has roosted in the box. She spent a lot
of time in the evening adjusting the nesting cup area,
nest wiggling, pecking and more surprisingly some
movements closer to egg rolling, could she have caught
is on the hop and started laying 6 days earlier than
last year?
Sunday
11th April
WATCH - Click
Here
we have an example of 'Courtship Feeding' always
nice to see, thought to reinforce the pair bond, interestingly
our gallant male has started early, previous males have
waited until the female was clutch sitting before
bringing in tasty morsels for their ladies.
April 14th
I
WATCH - Fancy in
her nest-side view Click
It's
now 15 days since nesting started, no sign of eggs laid yet, in previous years our
nesters laid their first eggs on 14/04/2008 and
18/04/2007 respectively. So were watching carefully.
Glad to say Fancy has not covered up the side window
with our second camera!
Some comings
& goings!
WATCH -
Click
Interestingly
over the last couple of days we have observed Fancy coming
into the nest box with insect morsels in her beak and making
the now familiar mother's 'baby chirrup,' this chirrup is the
equivalent of saying 'mouths open wide please' to her
chicks; she's' either a very confused bird or we like
think - just a good mum practising!
Friday
17 April
Fancy
has revealed her secret, 2 eggs in the cup this
evening as she left the pad for an evening excursion -
well concealed in all that wool. First egg laid 16
April.
Friday
24 April
Ninth
egg laid this morning. Fancy spending a lot of time in
the nest snoozing, will she match last yrs mother Hiri
with 10?
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Here we have Fancy returning to the Big Brother nestbox,
only to find she's being followed - probably by a marauding
Sparrow looking for a mealie! She pumps herself up and
spreads her wings to make herself look as big and
menacing as possible!
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WATCH -
Click |
Sunday
26 April
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Today
there are still Nine eggs in the nest so
it looks like Fancy and Fernando have settled
for a family of nine - must have been the
Torres connection Liverpool's number 9! |
Time
to hatching? Incubation time based on previous years
13 -15 days, so were looking at 6th May onwards.
Wednesday
6th May
Hatched!
Checked 7am this
morning, eggs intact - looked in again dinner time 1pm -
6 hatched! Fancy finishing off an eggshell, sensibly
replacing the calcium to her body that she lost through
egg production.
Saturday
9th May
A few
days on and the chicks are now a little more visible
from the side camera. The last 2 eggs hatched on the
7th and the family are doing well.
I
WATCH - Feeding
time, a juicy slug! Click
Thursday
14th May
Here's
Fancy & Fernando's brood 1 week on, feathers
emerging, eyes opening.
Estimated
time to fledging? Approx 18-21 days from hatching so were
looking at 23
May onwards
Thursday
21st May
Here's
Fancy & Fernando's brood 2 weeks on- thursday 21/05/09. It
never ceases to amaze me how quickly these birds grow, from
pink blobs to look alikely adults in 15days. In the first
picture you can see the youngest chick on top, noticeably
behind the others, sadly by Saturday our youngest hadn't made
it; Looking at him closely it would appear that his eyes never
fully opened and his preening regime was lacking, therefore in
the pecking order he was at a disadvantage. Still tis life and
we'll be happy if the remaining 8 fledge successfully ,
due to go any minute, watch this space!
Being fed mainly on mealworms i'm supplying, very few green caterpillars being brought in, some spiders and blackfly. Same goes for local Sparrows/Starlings/Blue tits and Robin, all desperate for the mealworms.
Tuesday
26st May
On the Sunday of the Bank holiday
weekend one of our chicks went, 2 days earlier than
expected.. we didn't see him go, where he went nobody
knows. Bank holiday Monday was a sad affair, another
of our brood left home, but wasn't very strong and
spent the afternoon hopping around the patio , unfortunately
a sharp eyed Magpie was on his case, and despite
being chased off once by my hubby, he finally
got his prize, swooping in more like a hawk...alas, I
could go off Magpies ...but once again the trails of
life are dramatically displayed. So By
Tuesday we had six chicks left in the box, started to
fledged at 7.25am, By the time I got back from work one
little chap left, finally let the safety of the box
7.00pm. Good luck little ones.
I
| I
WATCH - Starling
at the door, babies watch out Click |
I
WATCH - Mealworm
Tease , fledge & you get your dinner! Click |
I
WATCH - last
chick in the box, which way out! Click |
WATCH The
video clips from Nestcam 07 & 08 - from nesting to
fledgling at MySpace site Laura &
Liverpool RSPB.
Sound
& vision, hear their voices and those little wings
beating - not so quiet!.
(Click
on view my video's from main page)
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=202746901
Here's
some Fab links to other Nestbox watchers!
A
Camera suitable for use in a nest box?
The camera boards used in this
years project are
model, 117CTA/1 Colour Camera,
from Henry's
CCTV centre, London. The
Sony EXVIEW HI RES 520TVL & Sony HQX CCD 550TVL from
RF Concepts,
and a simple wireless camera bought from a local
market.
These board
cameras are relatively small and are easily
concealed in the roof spaces of a bird boxes.
Don't forget it is common sense to
test the camera first before installing the circuit board in
your nest box!!. Unfortunately our camera 3232CP developed a
problem in 2006 and ceased to function just as our
brood fledged, yes a disaster. We removed the camera
after the fledglings had left, no obvious sign of
damage and we assume a chip ? may have blown. Good
enough Henry's replaced the camera as we had only
had it 2 mths and new model 117CTA/1
Colour Camera has been installed in the new starling
box we will check it intermittently over the coming months.
The supplied SCART adaptor connects to a
domestic television, video recorder or DVD recorder. Or
..... you can connect directly (yellow phono connector)
to the 'Video In' on your computer's capture card / TV
card, you will also need a separate white audio
connector for sound .
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TV
System
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PAL
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PAL
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PAL
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PAL
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Resolution
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380 TV
Lines
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550
TV Lines
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380 TV
Lines
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550 TV
Lines
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Min.
Illumination
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0.1
Lux (F1.2)
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0.1
Lux (F2)
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?
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0.1
Lux (F2)
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Power
Supply
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12V
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12V
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12V
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DC
12V
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Dimensions
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60(W)
x 50(H) x 35(D)mm
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38m
(H) x 38mm (W)
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38mm(W)
x 38mm(H)
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117CTA/1 Colour Camera
Starling box
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Sony EXVIEW HI RES 520TVL
Sisi box/Big Brother box
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Mini wireless camera
Sparrow Terrace |
Sony CCD pinhole HQX CCD 550TVL
Schweg Box1
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