2020 Birdbox Summary - The "Corona" Year!

Unfortunately, between 2016 and 2019 no birds nested in the boxes.

However, after cutting hedges back and slightly changing the angle of the entrance, Blue Tits again chose one of our boxes to nest in.

The table above shows the action so far, with links to further details below.

1st March 2020 - Blue Tit starts roosting in the nestbox overnight

Around the first day of March, one of the Blue Tits, presumably the female, began to roost in the box overnight. Very little in the way of nest building had started, but she was bringing in the odd bit of moss. The weather was still wet and cold so the moss was probably also damp.

18th March, 2020 - Nesting

The Blue Tits began bringing the first pieces of nesting material into the birdbox around the 18th March, 2020. Most of the work seemed to be done by just one bird and progress was slow. Only rarely was a second bird seen.

She may be a young, inexperienced bird as the nest was never quite finished. She would bring a piece of moss in, place it on the nest and then remove it again. Maybe it didn't quite match the rest of the interior decoration? By the time she laid her first egg, she had created a reasonable nest, but the usual 'cup' in the centre was missing, and she laid the eggs on the bare wood.

This short time-lapse video shows the progress during March and April.

25th April 2020 - The first egg of the year

The first egg of 2020 was spotted in the birdbox on Saturday 25th April after which there was a new egg laid each day.

The bird hadn't really finished building her nest when the first egg was laid, and it was left resting on the wooden floor of the birdbox. After leaving the nest at around 7am she often doesn't return again until Noon - leaving the eggs exposed to the cold weather for hours. Even when she returns, she doesn't incubate them except over night. It will be interesting to see if any of them hatch out.

13th May 2020 - Eggs Abandoned

After laying her seventh egg, the female started to brood them. She had made a lovely nest, but the centre where she laid the eggs was just bare floor, so whenever she left the nest, they were exposed to the cold weather.

For the following 13 days she only left the nest for short periods, but by this time there was no sign that any were going to hatch. She seemed to give up on 13th May, leaving the nest at midday and not returning till around 7pm. This day was quite cold for spring - the temperature never rose above 10 degrees Centrigrade. She did return later and brooded the eggs again overnight and for the next few days and nights, only occasionally leaving them for longer periods. Then, on 17th May she left just after 6am and didn't return.

Maybe she was a young, first time mother, or maybe the conditions weren't quite right, but it looks like the birds have now given up for this year.