Wildlife Webcam Update

Our First Glance at the Newly Hatched Reed Warbler Chick

This summer the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust have set up a series of special webcams to capture some of the action from the amazing wildlife here at Attenborough Nature Reserve. All of which we will be broadcasting live on our website.

Earlier, we reported on the success of a Blue Tit family occupying one of the recently installed camera nest boxes. At the time of writing, nine chicks, which had been eagerly watched from the moment the eggs were laid, were preparing to leave the nest. The following day all but two of the chicks, which sadly didn’t go on to survive, had left the box.

Within days of turning the camera off in the Blue Tit box, we started to notice increased activity around a Reed Warbler’s nest that we had been closely monitoring for some weeks prior. We hoped to use a small mobile camera, similar to that used in the Blue Tit box, to deliver live images of the rarely-seen nesting behaviour of this species both online and on our big screen in the Nature Centre.

The Reed Warbler is an incredible little bird (smaller than a Sparrow) which makes its way to the UK each spring from its over-wintering grounds in sub-Saharan Africa - some 4000 miles away! As their name suggests, Reed Warblers inhabit the marginal vegetation surrounding wetlands where they choose to nest deep within patches of Common Reed – typically in areas of lowland central, Southern England and Wales. Due to the Reed Warbler’s breeding habits they often go un-noticed, nests are rarely seen, and the bird’s location is only given away by the male’s song.

Fortunately the nest we had selected for the camera was located in a thin strip of reeds adjacent to the Nature Centre. This meant that we could position the equipment on a nearby bank and still get clear footage – without being too intrusive. Even still, the mobile camera (not much bigger than a bulrush head on a stem and camouflaged to match) had to be moved into position by experienced staff at the Nature Centre over a period of a few weeks - so as not to cause disturbance to the prospecting birds (all wild birds nests are protected by law).

When we switched the camera on we noticed that four eggs had been laid – the average clutch size for this species. In just 12 days (on June, 6^th) the eggs had started to hatch. At least three chicks have been spotted in the nest so far and both the adult male and female have been busy bringing food to their young. In only 12 or 13 days after hatching the chicks will be ready to leave the nest. They will remain in and around the reedbed and will feed up through the summer before they make their first long migration to Africa.

You can follow the Reed Warbler chick’s progress and view this and our other webcams online at: www.attenboroughnaturecentre.co.uk/sightings