Saturday 14 April 2012

Birdbox Battle Vol 2

We had a pair of Blue Tits building a nest in BirdBox 3, but they were usurped by Tree Sparrows.
5 April 2012 - Tree Sparrows

6 April 2012 - Tree Sparrows
When I thought the Blue Tits were still in contention, I fitted a small entrance plate to keep the rivals out (31 March). You can see the earlier work from the Blue Tits again here:
26 March 2012 - empty27 March 2012 - bits & pieces31 March 2012 - moss
However, the sparrows just camped at the entrance (seemingly puzzled why they didn't fit anymore). This continued for about week until I relented and replaced the entrance plate with a 32mm one (4 April) and left them to it over the long Easter weekend. The sparrows took possession and began nest building (the photos above). Here are a couple of snapshots:
2 April 2012 - disputed territory12 April 2012 - busy sparrows14 April 2012 - tidier tits?
Surprisingly in the last few days, the sparrows haven't been active - I've seen Great Tits inspecting the nest, and today (14 April) the Blue Tits had a look inside:
Will the Blue Tits return?
Update:

The blue tits have settled back in, have tried out bird box 1 during their exile.

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