BirdCam 2005 diary of blue tits nesting live pictures webcam camera

Blue Tits in Emersons Green, Bristol

25th - 27th April 2005

27th April 2005 What happened to the egg? Was it an egg at all? The first picture shows what looks to me very much like the real thing, but in later pictures it is gone. Maybe it was just feathers or fluff. In the fifth picture you see something that looks like nylon thread wrapped around the females leg. I am glad to say that she managed to removed it after a while.

26th April 2005 Could this be the first egg? I think so. The first pick shows the box at 6am with the female all fluffed up to keep warm. At midday she is more awake and her feathers return to normal. The last three shots show the sequence of events at 6:45pm. Unfortunately I have the infra red LED's switched off, so the images are a bit dark. I noticed that after a very long stay on the nest the female moved away to reveal what looks very much like an egg. The last picture makes its position a bit more cleary. If she has started laying we can expect to see a new egg appear every day until the maximum is reached.

25th April 2005 The male comes in to feed his mate. It is getting a easier to tell them apart now, as the feathers on the females head are getting worn thin from all the nest building activity. The birds themselves can tell each other apart much easier than we can. For one thing their eyes can see more of the Ultra Violet spectrum than we can. Research suggests that the males crest fluoresces under near ultra-violet light. Apparently females are attracted to males with the flashier crests. See Study.

	Earlier Entries	Diary Index	Later Entries