# Lidl nesting box for Blue Tits



## Gulliver (7 Apr 2007)

Bought a nesting box in Lidl over a month ago and erected it in the garden just 3-4 metres from the kitchen window.  Blue tits started building nest 2 days ago.  Wonderful to watch!!


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## ClubMan (7 Apr 2007)

Nice one. No nesting birds out our garden but the blackbirds are having a field day with the compost worms. I also saw a fox this week down _Grangegorman _way two nights this week which was nice.


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## IS3218 (7 Apr 2007)

ClubMan said:


> Nice one. No nesting birds out our garden but the blackbirds are having a field day with the compost worms. I also saw a fox this week down _Grangegorman _way two nights this week which was nice.


 

I was watching a program some months ago and they now reckon that there is more foxes (the four legged kind  ) living in the towns and cities than in the countryside (more food available)


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## Gulliver (7 Apr 2007)

IS3218 said:


> is more foxes (the four legged kind  ) living in the towns and cities than in the countryside (more food available)


 
We have regular visits from the local fox (in the middle of Monkstown), and I got superb pics of him.  We also have daily visits from a grey squirrel.  Must create a little MySpace site about them.


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## r2d2 (7 Apr 2007)

Our Blue Tits, Chaffinches and odd Great Tit and Greenfinch have been replaced by a half dozen Magpies.....Arrrgggghhhhh......I should move this to 'Letting Off Steam'..............My kids grew up watching little Blue Tits zipping to and fro the food we left out for them and we all miss them !!


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## DrMoriarty (7 Apr 2007)

Been too busy lately, but snapped [broken link removed] unexpected visitor (for the time of year) while visiting the kids' cousins over the Christmas.

[broken link removed]

Must get the camera out again soon, I can hear all sorts of busy rustlings from the hedge already...


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## ClubMan (8 Apr 2007)

Speaking of _Magpies_, have many people ever seen _Jays _in the vicinity of _Dublin _city? I've only ever seen one once myself and have no idea how unusual they might be...


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## _Paul_ (9 Apr 2007)

DrMoriarty said:


> Been too busy lately, but snapped [broken link removed] unexpected visitor (for the time of year) while visiting the kids' cousins over the Christmas.
> 
> [broken link removed]
> 
> Must get the camera out again soon, I can hear all sorts of busy rustlings from the hedge already...


How do birds get the peanuts from the cage if the peanuts are bigger than the cage holes?


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## extopia (9 Apr 2007)

They use their beaks.


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## Vanilla (10 Apr 2007)

All sorts of birds in our garden. The blue tits are extremely clever though. Or foolhardy, not sure which. If I leave the house in the morning without putting out seeds they come and do flyovers on  my way to the car. Or perch on the handle of the french doors beforehand to remind me. Or come and sit on the velux window upstairs and peer in at us. They will eat out of our hands  but we've stopped encouraging this now for their own sake.


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## liteweight (10 Apr 2007)

_Paul_ said:


> How do birds get the peanuts from the cage if the peanuts are bigger than the cage holes?



The holes are deliberately made smaller so that the birds can only peck a small amount at a time. Otherwise they could choke.


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## getoffthepot (10 Apr 2007)

There was 11 magpies in the tree outside the house last week.


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## bankrupt (10 Apr 2007)

Is it too late to put out a nesting box at this stage?


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## Gulliver (10 Apr 2007)

bankrupt said:


> Is it too late to put out a nesting box at this stage?


Prob too late.  Blue tits make nests in mid April over a period of about 8 days.  They scout around for a month or so beforehand before they settle on a place... a bit like humans


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## annamac1 (11 Apr 2007)

So far no luck with my nesting box from Lidl.
There was a new arrival 2 days ago in the back yard - a pheasant!  I had heard it that day around about and then spotted it walking across the back yard (its grassed) but my camera wasn't handy to record it.
It was about to do the same this afternoon but at the last minute spotted my old cat sleeping in the sun, let out a loud squawk and headed off across the field next door.


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## Gulliver (8 May 2007)

Latest Installment in Gullivers garden----Furious feeding activity by the male blue tit in the past week or two - bringing grubs and caterpillars etc to the mother inside the Lidl nesting box.  Wish I had installed a camera like Derek Mooney!!


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## SineWave (8 May 2007)

[broken link removed] is a nice little unit for the voyeuristic................

heard it been discussed on RTE Radio nature program with a tag of STG £450, but will do some more research on Ebay option.


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## SineWave (8 May 2007)

> So far no luck with my nesting box from Lidl.



Soft-Landing in property market? How has it been advertised?


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## Gulliver (9 May 2007)

SineWave said:


> [broken link removed] is a nice little unit for the voyeuristic................
> 
> heard it been discussed on RTE Radio nature program with a tag of STG £450, but will do some more research on Ebay option.


 
Looked at that nestbox on ebay.  Seems to be eggs-actly what I need.  Got a good video feed - not just a webcam.  Think I'll go for it.  Possibly a bit late now in the season, but you'd never know.


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## Gulliver (17 May 2007)

Further episode in the Bluetits saga

The birds in my Lidl nesting box have hatched.

Got an ornithologist to have a look inside the nest yesterday. 5 two-day-old chicks, each looking like a tiny dark red marble with a large yellow beak - all beaks wide open for worms or caterpillars. 

Mother bird returned to the nest within 5 mins after we left, and both herself and the daddy bird have been feeding them furiously ever since.

Absolutely beautiful!!!


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## ClubMan (17 May 2007)

SineWave said:


> Soft-Landing in property market? How has it been advertised?


Going cheep?


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## oldtimer (17 May 2007)

I have spent most of to-day watching the blue tits live on website rte/mooneygoeswild. Absolutely facinating watching. Eight chicks hatched last Friday and two cameras monitoring every move. A must see.


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## ClubMan (28 May 2007)

_Karl Grabe_ has some information about how he managed his setup. See the _Blue Tits_ link on [broken link removed].


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## rory (28 May 2007)

I had a great time yesterday watching an adult tit feeding two chicks on our rotary washing line. We have a nut feeder hanging from it. There were two fluffy chicks perched precariously on the line. The adult would get a nut from the feeder, clutch it between its claws and break it with its beak, and then fly the few feet to one of the chicks and pop some nut into its mouth. The adult fed each chick in turn. It was fantastiic! I felt like ringing Eamonn de Buitléar....


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## muesli (29 May 2007)

Apparently there is only 1 blue tit still alive in Derek Mooney's nest box   the live stream has been disabled on the RTE website


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## TreeTiger (29 May 2007)

So sad, apparently 3 died overnight, and the one left is not in good shape.  I was only watching them yesterday and was laughing at how excited they got when Mum (or Dad?) arrived with food.  Wonder what happened?


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## muesli (30 May 2007)

Maybe it was due to the recent cold snap in the weather


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