Early Birds
Monday, April 16th 2012
The Adopt-A-Box team were out early yesterday morning checking a few nest boxes to see how the season was shaping up and got a real surprise! For Blue and Great Tits the nesting season starts with a one to two week period of nest building. The nest platform is usually constructed out of moss and perhaps some dry grass and once a depth of a couple of inches is reached then the nest cup is shaped into the moss. The nest cup is then lined with wool, feathers or hair to give a cosy lining before a random mix of similar material is spread across the top of the nest. Eggs are laid at the rate of one a day and incubation does not start until the the clutch is almost complete. For titmice at Foxglove egg laying usually takes from 6 to 10 days and in mid April it would be usual to find birds actively building nests and perhaps a few nests that were reaching the lined stage ready for eggs. So imagine our surprise when we looked into one box and after carefully moving the top cover counted 5 eggs and in three more found 4 eggs! This means that these birds started laying on the 10th or 11th April and this is a good 4 or 5 days earlier than we have recorded in the recent past!
So what does this mean? Well the season has got off to a really really early start and it remains to see whether the rest of the nesting pairs start egg laying quite soon or this develops into a very protracted egg laying season. It also means that for those who have not signed up to Adopt-A-Box, time is running out for this year, so please contact the Reserve Managers to book your box!
...............and here are two nests I photographed earlier showing the covered and then the uncovered:
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CLOSURE: Monday 22nd April 2024
Wednesday 17th April 2024 |
Due to an important event occuring on the camp, Foxglove Covert LNR will be closed for one day only on Moday 22nd April.
The reserve will resume usual opening hours on Tuesday 23rd April.
Access to the Reserve: OPEN with limited access
Monday 18th March 2024 |
The reserve is now open, although again with limited access.
Visitors will be able to access the reserve with the use of key fobs provided at the pass office upon entrance to the camp, or will be provided entrance and exit through the access gate by an officer from the camp Guard Room. In this case visitors will need a mobile phone to call the Guard Room when they wish to exit the reserve.
Please be aware that due to these circumstances, entering and leaving the reserve might take a little longer than usual.
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