Bird-Cam

A spot of re-organisation!

Just moving the nest around a little before bringing more material in!

Follow us on twitter!

I have created a twitter account as I thought that was quite apt! You can follow us at http://twitter.com/birdcam

Nest building has begun!

Although the server still has issues uploading the images to the website I have seen this morning that there is nesting material inside the birdbox. Will look at the internet issue this evening and hopefully you’ll be then able to track the build process.

Webcam updates down

Just a quick note to say that the live picture update has died at the moment. There seems to be an issue with internet connectivity from the bird cam machine. Will investigate tomorrow evening!

Birmingham University researchers seek help from bird watchers

A group of Scientists from the department of schools and bioscience at Birmingham University have launched a project to research how garden birds survive in our towns and cities.

Working with the city council, researchers  from the University captured and gave coloured rings  to 12 common species of bird,  included blackbird, robin, chaffinch and blue tits in the areas of Sutton Park, Sutton Coldfield and the part of Shire Country Park between Small Health and Yardley Wood, the birds where then released back into their habitat

It is hoped that people across the city will spot the birds with coloured rings and help provide vital data to the researchers about how far these birds travel.

Emma Rosenfeld, who is in charge of the project for the university said: “There has been a lot of work on long distance migration, but we know very little about how birds move around large cities to feed and survive”.

“By getting people to look for the colour rings, we will be able to get a picture of how far the birds in your garden move to feed and what areas they use most often. Although the birds were ringed in Shire Country Park and Sutton Park, individuals could turn up anywhere in the city.”

The study is part of The National Open Air Laboratories project, which is aiming to encourage people to study, explore, enjoy and protect the environment local to them. The project benefited from a grant from the Big Lottery Fund to help bring scientists and communities closer together, other Birmingham studies will look at bats, moths and bees.

Dr Jon Sadler, from the University said: “Much of Birmingham doesn’t seem very promising habitat for small birds, but they have adapted to survive and flourish. What we want to know is how much birds move around from green oases like parks into our gardens. This will help us know what areas in a city are important”.

“But for us to get the best possible picture of how our garden birds behave we really need people to help. So we would encourage everyone to get their binoculars out and get spotting.”

Sleepy head

Over the weekend I’ve had nearly 300 video captures of a blue tit that has been sleeping in the box. Not sure yet when she came but she seemed to leave this morning as I left for work…..weird! I will spend some time reviewing the video clips but it may take me a little while to get the checked and uploaded!

Remember to check the live image page to see if there is anyone in there now!

Feel free to use the facebook icon below this post to show your friends what you’ve been looking at!

What’s the view like from in here?

In this video you can see the bird almost standing on his tip toes to see out of the hole in the bird box!

I have noticed that the sound isn’t working this year so will have a tweak and see what I can do to sort that out!

Thanks for watching and if you like what we do then please sign the guest book!

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Guest Book Added

I’ve added a visitors / guest book so that you fine people can leave a message!
Visitor Book Link

New article on blue tits

I’ve added an article on blue tits to the site for those visitors who want to know a little bit more about these birds. The article can be accessed by clicking this link -> blue tit article!

Here is another video from a couple of days ago: