I’ve noticed that Beau has spending more time in the box recently than Swift, who has been absent for a couple of days, but reappeared, with much bowing and keening to Beau, this morning (and with much relief to me…). He has only once spent the night in the box (on the ledge) however in the 2 and a half years we have been recording them. Here he is having a ‘scrape’ this morning. He’s also started a new scrape near ledge (bad idea, Beau!). Swift has been using the box for rest (though less so at night recently), but rarely bothers to fix the scrape.
They are in for a shock, anyway, as Scott and I are going up the tower next week to clean out the box and replace some of the gravel (and clean the camera lenses). It doesn’t get enough wind and rain to be self-cleaning unfortunately.
And no, unfortunately, I probably don’t have enough data yet because the last two years have been unsuccessful, and there was only one chick fledged in the first year of recording, I feel I should probably do at least another year. And I would still like to get permission to band (= ring). But it won’t hurt to lose a week or so data in the non-breeding period.
I’ll be off air for a bit due to trip to Griffith (National Parks Advisory Committee), but it’s all pretty quiet at the moment, sadly.
I assume this means the cams will be down while you’re cleaning. It will certainly be nice to have a clearer view of events! Hope your trip to Griffith goes well.
Please pass on our appreciation to Scott – I think it’s brilliant he’s still involved even though he’s no longer at CSU.
What a fantastic job you’ve done with the box! I like the dropped floor and I think it will make a difference to the safety of future chicks.
Hi Cilla and Scott
What a wonderful job you have done on the nesting box and cams
Well done and thank you for your hard work.