Nesting blue tits

[glallotments]

We bought one of those nest boxes with a web cam in it this year but as it was fairly late going up we didn't think it would be used this year but a pair of blue tits took residence almost immediately. We popped out some poodle wool which the blue tits readily collected as nesting material.

The female is now incubating 8 eggs - all very exciting to watch so I do hope the pair successfuly rear their babies. We have our very own Spring Watch. According to a guy at an RSPB reserve that we visited once the eggs are hatched we should put out live mealworms Yuk - I think a job for my husband!

If you are interested we are charting their progress and posting video clips here http://ossettweather.com/nature/page12.html

[oldherbaceous]

Dear glallotments, how lovely to have our own K.G Springwatch.

Thankyou for posting it.

[Primrose]

We've got a nest box on our back fence partly hidden by a pyracantha bush in which blue tits are nesting and I would love a webcam in it to watch what is happening. I don't know how these devices work. Can somebody explain? Do you need an electric cable connected to them into your house or can they be wirelessly operated? It's obviously too late for us to do anything this year but if it's a simple process, perhaps we could do it for next year in the hope that the same pair will return again.

[glallotments]

[quote="Primrose"] Do you need an electric cable connected to them into your house or can they be wirelessly operated? quote]
The photos are received by the computer wirelessly but the camera is run by connecting to an electricity supply. Ours needs a 12v supply and is connected to an outdoor power socket (the same as operates our pond pump).

We have found that we got lots of interference from a wireless system as any other wirelessly operated devices such as portable phones etc can cause problems. It took quite a lot of messing around and repositioning equipment to get a good interference free connection so if possible I think a power option would be preferable.

Our next project is to film the birds going in and out using one of those remore wildlife cameras.

[glallotments]

The eggs have hatched - great excitement - I can't stop watching!

[Primrose]

Lucky you! There's lots of to-ig and fro-ing by parents in our blue tit nest box so very frustrating that we can't see what's happening inside.