BirdNetPi: 12 months on, what now?

My system has collected a lot of data.

Can it tell me anything?

And what do I do now?

BirdNet-Pi: Species Stats

We are well into the 2024 BirdBox season.

 

Last year, blue tits made use of our new woodcrete bird box...

...but this year the great tits are having a turn.

Birdbox 2023: new home, new location, new birdbox

2022 was all about moving house

 

so I didn't have time to fire-up the birdbox system or even keep my eye on nesting progress.

And I'm not sure that this year will be much better, but here goes.

BirdBox 2021: tits, robins & wrens

Its been a strange season, and no mistake.

The cold weather, early on, seems to have delayed everything.

And we have seen at least 4 things we have never witnessed before.

BirdBox2020: it didn't end well

It was shaping up nicely for an interesting bird box season.

Several birds tried our camera nest box for size and some even laid a few eggs.

But with only a week to go before the chicks were due to fledge, it all went tits up!

BirdBox 2020: April...it's been a funny old month!

There has been a lot of traffic in our maple tree bird box during April.

 

We've seen trespassers, thieves, and changes of ownership.

So guess who our current tenants are?

BirdBox2020: here we go again

Listen! ...I can hear the birds!

The Covid Crisis has resulted in an unexpected benefit...

...a dramatic drop in traffic noise.

Garden Birds: a pox upon thee

We sometimes see birds in our garden that are clearly 'not right'.

A few have physical disabilities such as broken or missing feet or legs.

While others are clearly just unwell.

BirdBox2018: our mixed species nest

Its been a very interesting season watching how the story unfolds in our mixed tit species nest.

The chicks have now left the safety of the box to take their chances in the big wild world.

So this post just reviews what we observed and what I think may have happened.

BirdBox2018: Blue Tits hatch in Great Tit nest

All 6 of the blue tit eggs hatched by the 15th May.

By my reckoning it was almost 5 weeks from the time the first egg was laid until the last had hatched.

BirdBox2018: The Great Tit Takeover

Things were going well for our resident blue tits.

They had spent weeks checking out the nest box on our maple tree before building a nest and laying a few eggs.

Then the great tits rocked up!

BirdBox 2018: time-lapse video

For 2018 I thought I'd try to gather periodic snapshots from my Maple tree bird box.

The idea is to make a series of time-lapse videos.

I'm hoping to capture nest building and maybe show the chicks growing from tiny naked blobs to fully feathered birds.

Nature with Tech 2018

Although we have had some very bright, sunny days during February, it has also often been very cold.

And it looks like we have some seriously cold days to come during early March.

However, there are still some signs that our garden birds are thinking about nest building...

Chicks at play: RaspiCam 90fps

Our blue tit chicks came out of hiding a few days after leaving the nest, and now they are regular visitors at our feeders.

They need to learn the snatch-and-run technique, rather than spending too much time out in the open where they are vulnerable to predators.

Using a RaspiCam to capture video at 90fps results in slow-motion video and gives a better idea of their behaviour.

BirdBox2017: end of another season

It's been a very successful year for our blue tits, great tits and our two Raspberry Pi powered bird boxes.

The last of our bird box chicks left the safety of their nest yesterday, and so ends another season for us.

Out of 15 eggs in two boxes, 14 chicks got the chance to explore the world outside and potentially become food for sparrowhawk chicks or maybe the short-term plaything for one of the local cats.

BirdBox2017: something is eating my SD card

2017 is turning out to be a great bird box season for us.

Both of our Raspberry Pi camera boxes are occupied, with the first set of chicks almost ready to leave the nest.

For the last few days my only concern has been whether I'll run out of SD card space before the chicks depart.

BirdBox2017: double Zero deployed!

I attached the new bird box & external camera to our pergola late yesterday afternoon, and by 8:30 this morning we had our first visitors.

Blue tits are very inquisitive, and certainly do not require a couple of months to get used to a new box (as some tv experts would have you believe).

So the 2017 season appears to have got off to a good start!

BirdBox2016: everybody out!

Well, I say everybody, but that's not exactly true.

Of the 9 healthy looking chicks which hatched from the 9 eggs laid, we seemed to lose 4 during the last few days.

Now is the time to take a look at the data and present a few graphs.

BirdBox2016: quick update

Things seem to be going well with our blue tit family in our Maple Tree bird box.

The adults have turned out to be very good parents and are working flat out to bulk-up their chicks.

They now only have 10 days to stuff themselves with caterpillars before it will be time to leave the safety of the nest and venture outside.

BirdBox2016: incubating 9 eggs

The local weather has certainly improved over the last few days, with today exceeding 27'C (if my pressure/temperature monitor can be relied upon).

Our blue tit pair seem to have produced 9 eggs, and the female has started sitting on them.

And our first female Emperor moth emerged yesterday and attracted a mate this afternoon.