Day 30: Blue tit

Probably my favourite garden bird, these colourful characters have so much attitude. If I am in the garden, and 'in their way', the individuals we currently have visiting will happily sit and shout at me from the fence. The variation of calls they make is wide, with the very sweet, high pitched calls the pair make to each other, to the loud 'shouty' call we so often hear.

We have been trying to persuade them to nest in the garden since we put up the bird box, pictured below, three years ago, and we think we may have success this year. Originally, we had the box on an East facing wall. but as our garden is a bit of heat trap, we think it probably got too hot. We have since moved it to a North facing wall, but no success last year, and finally placed a large potted shrub in front of it. This final thing seems to have done the trick.

A pair, with a particularly brightly coloured and bold male, have been prospecting the nest box since early January, and, over the last week, the action has really built up. We have seen them taking in nesting material and they seem to have chosen the garden gate as a favoured place to repeatedly copulate.

Hopefully, they will stay and I will be able to report fledglings in the not too distant future.