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B&W Birdcam Diary 2008
Welcome to our new diary for 2008. Information recorded in this diary is taken from our B&W birdcam blog which everyone is invited to contribute to. If you want to see what happened in the box last year, follow the link above to view last year's diary or have a look in our archive gallery. Pictures and videos for this year can be found with those from our colour birdcam on our Derbyshire Schools Birdcam Project webpages and blog or from our Flickr photostream. |
| 11th February |
Following an unseasonably warm weekend, when birds were observed investigating nest boxes, it wasI decided it was time to clean out the nest box. The 26mm hole adaptor, fitted last year to keep the tree sparrow out, has been removed, leaving the original 32mm hole |
| 12th February |
An additional bird box fitted with a colour camera was put up today. The live feed and observations for this box can be found on the Derbyshire Schools Birdcam Project website. |
| 25th February |
First sighting of a sparrow visiting the newly cleaned out box. |
| 26th-29th February |
More than one house sparrow visiting the nest box, usually in the morning. Sometimes two have been spotted in the box together. |
| 5th March |
A house sparrow spent 45 minutes in the box in the afternoon, mostly just resting. |
| 7th March |
A house sparrow was observed measuring the inside of the box with its wings. |
| 11th March |
A blue tit was seen in the box but a house sparrow soon saw it off! |
| 20th March |
Several people spotted a sparrow roosting in the box overnight. It was a cold, blustery and wet night, so it was probably being very sensible! |
| 22nd March |
A snowy evening, and a sparrow again spent the night in the box. |
| 26th March |
First sign of any nesting material in the box, just a little dried grass. Both house sparrows and blue tits still visiting but it is the house sparrow which is now visiting every night around 6pm to roost. |
| 28th March |
This year's first Peregrine Falcon egg was spotted at the Peregrine's nesting spot on Derby Cathedral's tower at lunchtime today! |
| 1st April |
A bit more nesting material coming into the nest now but still very slowly. The male sparrow is still sleeping in the box every night. |
| 8th April |
The nest is quite big nowThe male is in the box most often and the female is occasionally spotted pecking at the hole. Tonight is the first time the male sparrow hasn't spent the night in the box since he was first spotted sleeping over on the 20th March. |
| 11th April |
Tonight is the 4th night in a row that a sparrow hasn't slept in our nest box. Both male and female sparrows were busy in the box this morning, the male appeared to be arranging the nest. However, over the last couple of days, blue tits have also spent quite a lot of time in the box - who will win this year? |
| 15th April |
A tree sparrow was spotted in the nest today, identified by its black check spot. That makes three species of bird seen in the box today. The male house sparrow was seen keeping the nest in shape whilst the female pecked around the hole. Blue tits were also seen visiting the nest. It looks like the house sparrow has given up sleeping in the nest overnight. |
| 21st April |
Back to school! Blue tits and house sparrows are still both visiting the nest which is made mainly of dried grass. No sign of feathering yet. Let's hope they don't give up nesting because of the competition. |
| 30th April |
The nest hasn't been feathered and both house sparrows and blue tits are still visiting during the day. Will any eggs be laid soon? |
| 4th May |
The blue tits don't appear to have been around for a couple of days and at times, both female and male house sparrows have been seen snuggled up together in the nest! |
| 5th May |
Both sparrows spending a lot of time in the box sometimes together. Bringing in or sorts of nesting material including something that looks like paper! A blue tit was spotted in the box around tea time. |
| 10th May |
Sparrows often seen dug in deep in the well of the nest. Showing no signs of wanting to roost at night in the box. |
| 11th May |
First egg spotted just after 8am. Male and female house sparrows both visiting during the day but neither roosting in the box later. |
| 12th May |
Both sparrows flew in just before 6am to check on the egg. The female stayed to lay her 2nd egg sometime between 6.10 and 6.40am whilst the male sparrow visited to dump new nesting material on top of her! After laying her egg, she had a snooze before being woken up by the male and leaving the nest at 6.50am to reveal her 2nd egg. Both sparrows visited the box during the day to sit in the nest. The female spent the night in the box. |
| 13th May |
The female house sparrow laid her 3rd egg sometime before 7.10am when she left the nest with her eggs in view. Both sparrows spent a lot of time in and around the box today. |
| 14th May |
Not sure if there is a 4th egg because the adult birds are incubating the eggs nearly all the time, taking it in turn and rarely leaving the nest unoccupied. |
| 24th May |
All three chicks hatched either late yesterday or early this morning. The parents have been busy taking it in turns to feed and brood them. They don't seem to bring in live food but appear to regurgitate food into the chicks' mouths. |
| 29th May |
The female house sparrow has been busy brooding and feeding the three chicks who have grown considerably over the last five days. They still have their eyes shut but they are have darker coloured spines indicating the growth of feathers here. The male house sparrow hasn't been seen today. |
| 30th May |
After resetting the birdcam this afternoon, only two chicks could be seen. They didn't appear as lively as yesterday and again only the female adult was seen feeding them and occasionally brooding them. It has been a chilly, wet and windy week since the chicks have hatched, let's hope the female can keep the chicks warm and fed. A snapshot of the female around tea time shows a possible injury above the beak. |
| 31st May |
The female spent the night in the box with the remaining chicks last night but another of the chicks had died by the morning. the female house sparrow never returned to the nest box after leaving early in the morning. There was a little movement from the remaining chick during the morning but this chick also died during the day. It is likely that the absence of the male house sparrow and the recent bad weather were contributory factors in the demise of the chicks. |