Bird's Nest Livestream 2016

[Winston]

- Livestream - http://connectcast.tv/Winston - I run it throughout the day (GMT) when I can -
- Nest currently under construction by the female, who is likely to be seen in the box every 10 minutes or so throughout the day -

It's that time of year again where I stream the nesting attempts of a pair of blue t1ts inside a nest box in my garden in south-east England.

As some of you may remember, I did the same last year: http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/index.php?/topic/109939-blue-bird-nest-box-camera-live-stream/&page=1

For those unaware, this is what a blue t1t is:

Blue T1t by Winston, on Flickr
A small, garden and woodland bird, much like the Chickadee found in the United States.

This year I have built a box capable of housing two cameras instead of one - the same top-down camera as last year, but now with an additional, higher quality, side-view camera.
The new camera also has a working microphone, unlike the old one, so this time we have audio. While there's a lot of feedback in it, you can turn the volume down until it's not annoying and still hear birds inside the box just fine.

A female blue t1t has been roosting in the box each night since January, and today, the 19th of April, she started to build her nest.
After another couple of days she will most likely have the nest finished, at which point she will start to lay eggs.

Blue t1ts usually lay about 9 or 10 eggs, sometimes more. Last year it was 9, but only one of the chicks survived long enough to leave the nest, but subsequently also died.
The parents weren't finding them nearly enough food and sometimes resorted to giving them whole sunflower seeds from the feeders which isn't at all suitable for a young chick. I suspect they simply starved.

This time I shall be providing live mealworms in the garden once the eggs hatch in the hope that the parents will utilise them to feed the chicks.
With some luck, we'll see a healthy handful of chicks fledge this time round.

Blue T1t Male and Female by Winston, on Flickr

Edited April 20, 2016 by Winston

[LordFerret]

Yes, I do remember this from last year... our Black-capped Chickadees and House Wrens are now nesting as well.