大象传媒

The blue tits hatch

A video camera mounted in a nest box in Jackie and Clive Andrews's garden has allowed them to watch the private life of a family of blue tits. From a pair of nuthatches giving up on the box, to the blue tits carrying the first blade of grass into the nest on 12 April, there's been plenty of action. The first of six eggs hatched at the beginning of May.

Moving in

When Jackie and her husband Clive moved into their home in the village of Ryton six years ago, they decided to put up a听nest box on one of the trees at the bottom of their garden. The following spring a family of blue tits moved in and this encouraged the couple to put up another four nest boxes, turning their garden into a popular nesting site.

In 2007 Jackie and Clive were able to get much closer to a family of nuthatches when they put a camera in one of the nest boxes, and it became compulsive viewing: "When they went it was really sad... It was nice to think they'd gone and everything had happened... but you feel quite protective of them, watching them and what's going on and hoping they're alright, it's a bit daft I suppose!"

From February to early June, the couple enjoy their very own private version of Springwatch -听itself a surprise hit. When the 大象传媒 Two show launched in 2005 it attracted audiences of around three million, beating fellow reality TV programmes Big Brother and Celebrity Love Island in the process.

Jackie admitted that throughout spring she doesn't want to miss a thing, "especially when the eggs are in there and the babies are in, and then you want to see them being fed... it's time consuming."

Watching the birds live from the kitchen

A camera in the top of Jackie's nest box sends surprisingly clear images (along with audio) to a small transmitter. The picture can then be sent to either a TV or a computer. Opaque plastic panels in the side of the nest box allow more light in, improving the picture quality.

Despite the technology, the nuthatches clearly valued their privacy last year, covering every part of the nest in mud, including the side panels and even the camera itself. Fortunately it was early in the breeding season and Jackie and Clive were able to scrape away enough mud to allow them to follow what was going on without discouraging the nuthatches.

Even so, it was often difficult to see what the nuthatches were doing, as Jackie explained: "When the eggs were in there you couldn't count them because they tend to cover them. They really sit on their nest, ruffle it all up and cover everything while they were gone... We saw the first one poke through and over a period of a few hours they all appeared... that's the first we knew there were eggs in there."

In 2008 Jackie and Clive hoped to lure the blue tits back and therefore get a better view of what was going on in the nest: "The view I wanted was to see what they actually do when they're feeding those birds."

To give the blue tits an advantage over their more dominant rivals, a metal plate was attached to the front of the nest box, restricting the size of the birds that could get in. It didn't stop the nuthatches from squeezing in, but it prevented them from enlarging the hole to a more comfortable fit. Eventually the larger birds gave up and went in search of another nest.

Although it seemed late in the day to attract another family of birds, a pair of blue tits moved in on 12 April. Because of the way the blue tits build their nest, there has been a great view of what was going on and Jackie Andrews has been logging it all on the Nest Box Challenge website.

Whether you live in a country cottage or in a town centre flat, there's plenty of tips to help you attract wildlife on the 大象传媒 Breathing Places website.