{"id":762,"date":"2026-02-19T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bitn.co.uk\/?p=762"},"modified":"2026-02-23T15:56:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T15:56:07","slug":"19th-february-2026-welcome-back-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bitn.co.uk\/?p=762","title":{"rendered":"19th February 2026 – Welcome Back & Update"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to the 2026 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My plans for 2026 have changed and been slightly delayed. I sadly lost my dad in November 2025, so priorities took over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, I mentioned that I had purchased two new bird boxes and had decided to replace boxes 1 and 2 with them. Well I am still replacing the two boxes, but the new boxes are being put up in a new location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boxes 1 and 2 have been up since 2006 and the technology inside them is no longer available to purchase if something failed. With this in mind I have taken the decision to “retire” the two boxes from use. Box 3 uses a wired camera and needs a power supply and recording device to monitor\\view it. I am looking into the possibility of upgrading the camera to the same type in my two new boxes, as there is nothing wrong with the structure of the box itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With the nesting season coming I will not have the time needed to move the box and change the camera, so for the 2026 season I will be only using the two new boxes. I have updated the Technical page with more details on the new boxes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s start with the first diary entry for the 2026 season and I will try and keep my website more up to date \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Box 1 and Box 2 have been seeing the odd visit. Box 1 had been very quiet throughout January, but in Box 2 a male Great Tit visited for a few inspections. It was not joined by a female and since the end of January has not been back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 18th February, activity in Box 2 has increased.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first visit of the day was made just after 10am with a single Blue Tit entering the box. Another bird then was heard at the entrance hole. Based on the movements I believe the bird in the box was a male and the bird at the entrance hole was a female.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Male
Male Blue Tit<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

A few seconds later the other Blue Tit comes into the box. I have never found an exact way to tell the two apart, but sources say the female has less white around the back of the head\\neck, where the blue cap meets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the male is on the right and the female is on the left.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Male
Male & Female Blue Tit<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

As soon as the female entered the box, the male flew out, leaving the female to inspect the box.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the next four minutes, she spent time inspecting the floor, the camera area and the side windows. And then performed two “nesting wiggles”<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Nesting
Nesting Wiggle!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

So does Box 2 have a new owner for the 2026 season? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well a few more visits were made during the morning, before activity stopped again for the afternoon. Upon checking the box later that night, there was no roosting bird.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it’s a good start and looking promising for a nest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More in my next diary update<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to the 2026 season. My plans for 2026 have changed and been slightly delayed. I sadly lost my dad in November 2025, so priorities took over. In 2025, I mentioned that I had purchased two new bird boxes and had decided to replace boxes 1 and 2 with them. Well I am still replacing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":765,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,31],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-762","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-diarys2026","8":"category-feb2026","9":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitn.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitn.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitn.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitn.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitn.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=762"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitn.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":768,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitn.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762\/revisions\/768"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitn.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bitn.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitn.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bitn.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}