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B&W Birdcam Diary 2009
Welcome to our new diary for 2009. Information recorded in this diary is taken from our birdcam blog which everyone is invited to contribute to. If you want to see what happened in the box during the two last years, follow the links above 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. |
| End January |
Mr Durward kindly helped clean out our bird boxes at the end of January. He also modified them to make the cleaning job easier next year. |
| 12th February |
A blue tit roosted in the box overnight, perhaps to shelter from the snow. |
| February & March |
Great tits and blue tits both regular visitors to the box but no sign of nesting. A blue tit has roosted in the box most nights. |
| 7th April |
A visit from a pair tree sparrows today in addition to the usual blue tits and great tits. |
| 9th April |
Great tits brought in a bit of nesting material today, no blue tits spotted - they seemed to be more interested in the colour cam box. No blue tit roosting tonight. |
| 14th April |
Over the last couple of days, the great tits have built quite a full nest of grass and moss but today they have brought in a large amount of wool like substance. |
| 16th April |
The great tits have hardly been near the nest the last couple of days since bringing in the wool. There appear to be some insects moving around in the wool. |
| 22nd April |
A great tit is roosting in the box for the first time. Maybe she is nearly ready to lay! |
| 28th April |
Although the great tit has been sleeping in the box the previous six nights, there's not been much activity in the box during the day time. Now we now why! When she left the box this morning, she left five eggs uncovered. The great tits have paid a lot more attention to the eggs today and may have started to incubate them. |
| 29th April |
No further eggs were laid today and the great tits are incubuating the eggs. Incubation lasts 13-15 days so we might expect chicks 11-13th May. A great distraction for SATS week! |
| 11th May |
Right on cue, the first chick hatched at registration time Monday morning! The 2nd hatched at around 11am and the 3rd at home time. We had to wait until the evening to see a 4th chick and the final 5th chick hatched out overnight or early the next morning. Soon after the first chick hatched, one of the adults brought in an inappropriately large bug to try and feed the youngster, but as time went on, they seemed to learn that smaller creatures were better! Sometimes we observed the adults stretching a caterpillar between them, possibly in an attempt to make a smaller morsel. Check out the pictures and videos on the project gallery. |
| 17th May |
After a tough few days, with heavy rainfall, the chicks appear to be doing well. They are developing feathers on their heads, backs and wings. |
| 19th May |
The chicks are just over a week old and are no longer bald. They have yet to open their eyes. |
| 22nd May |
The chicks eyes are now open and feather markings can be seen. An adult great tit roosts in the box at night but no longer covers the chicks to keep them warm. |
| 24th May |
At nearly two weeks old, the chicks can be seen stretching their wings, they already look like young great tits but still have tufts of downy feathers on their heads. |
| 28th May |
All five chicks are doing well although one seems a bit sleepy, maybe it is the hot weather.The adults don't appear to be bringing in small caterpillars but are trying to feed the chicks large spiders or even worms. Sometimes they feed the chicks at the hole without entering the box. |
| 29th May |
Not sure why, but a couple of the chicks have died. The others are still being fed. |
| 30th May |
The chicks feed frantically when the adults bring food, they often fly up to the entrance hole or look out the windows. |
| 31st May |
The chicks couldn't quite wait to the start of term and fledged early this morning. Maybe we which catch a glimpse of them around the school grounds. |