Bird box photos

[Dave]

Do you have any cats around you ?

There is one but now we have a little dog it's hasn't been seen for a long time in our garden.

What about the drop below the nest, how hard is it... do you have an old mattress 

The drop is only around 6ft so it wont get hurt that way. We have heard that picking up the fledglings off the floor and putting them into a cardboard box which you peg on the washing line is the best option, then the mother will keep feeding it.


Here are a couple of photos from this morning





I've definitely go to refocus the camera before next year the, closer they get to the camera to worse the pictures. In the second photo you can see one of the birds out of the heart of the nest and it's wings outstretched.

[Dave]

Here's todays photo.



These 4 are getting a lot bigger and spreading their wings all the time. It wont be long now

[BriansBrain]

Great 

[Dave]

Todays photos

In the first photo the mother is to the top left...it gives you some idea of how big the chicks are now. The second photo is of them on their own. There are still 4 in the nest and we've been watching closely to see if they are going to fledge yet.

[BriansBrain]

They are look healthy - lets hope they make it OK 

[Dave]

Unfortunately we have a fatality. Looking back at the clips from last night, it seems that one of the chicks was in the heart of the nest and the other just sat on it. I was OK at around 11pm then around midnight there was no movement from it and as you can see from the photos it's now just lying in the bottom of the nest.

[BriansBrain]

That is sad........   

and so annoying that you could do nothing to help 

[Dave]

That's it all the chicks have now fledged.

At 07.00 this morning the last 3 were in the nest. At 07.21 there was only 1 left. The last one flew out the box at around 08.20. We think the last chick has gone into the area next to the pond nearest the shed as mum keeps going backwards and forwards to it. Here are todays photos. In time order.

[BriansBrain]

You must be a very proud dad .......   

[Dave]

You must be a very proud dad .......   

I am thanks John 

I am either going to make some changes to the box and camera in the coming months or I might just start again and build a new taller one so the the camera covers the entry hole as well as the bottom, I might add another camera to a new box so I get it covered from 2 angles. It's really only the height (minimum 125mm from the floor) and size of the hole (25mm for blue tits) that's critical with bird boxes.

Logs are quite common around the golf course so I should be able to get 1 or 2 no problem, if I can't get them from there my brother might have some at his stables.

I'll think on it for a while before making my mind up. I'll also check the camera focus too before making any final decisions.

[BriansBrain]

I think you did a marvelous job of that one 

If you do make another it can only be better, 2 cameras from different angles would be fantastic.

But like you said camera focus in that little environment can't be easy.

Looking forward to the next little family 

[Dave]

Thanks John 

[Dave]

Shirl opened the box to look in the nest and see what was there. There was one dead chick which we knew about so she removed it and took the nest intact to a nursery so the children could see it.

I then took it down and adjusted the focus and after I did, I didn't realise just how far out it was. After resetting it and putting it all back I thought the infra-red light had gone off so I attempted to access it via the program on the PC so I could switch it back on again but with no luck as I forget the password.

I followed the instructions to reset the password and that failed. I then sent an email to the suppliers of the camera and they replied saying I should send it back in case it's a firmware error in the camera, so that's where it is now.

Not sure how long it's going to be away but there's no rush anyway as nothing will use it till end of October at the very earliest.

What's amazing about this is that the camera is at least 2 years old and the supplier didn't bat an eyelid at suggesting I sent it back.

I will let you know what happens 

[BriansBrain]

What's amazing about this is that the camera is at least 2 years old and the supplier didn't bat an eyelid at suggesting I sent it back.

That is very good service 

I hope you get it sorted before the new occupants take over the box 

[Dave]

Thanks John