We had a fantastic couple of months last spring when we watched a pair of blue tits make a nest, lay eggs, hatch chicks and raise a brood with the aid of a camera in our bird box. The whole process was extremely interesting for the staff as well as for the children, and we hope to repeat it again this year.
'The nursery received a grant to improve the outdoor area and the staff team thought carefully about what we could do to help extend the children's learning and experiences in our nursery garden. We are fortunate to be located in the middle of woodland and we use it a lot, but we wanted to bring the children even closer to nature. We have bird feeders, but it is a real skill for the children to observe the birds because they have to be very quiet or they'll frighten them away. Purchasing a camera was seen as a great way to provide a real insight into the life of birds and allow us all to observe something that would normally be out of bounds.
'Staff did a lot of research online to find the right nesting box and camera for the nursery. We wanted a camera that would attach to a television as well as the nursery computer because we needed to release the computer for other things and could not have it linked to a live feed all the time.
'We chose an RSPB camera and a box with a metal surround around the hole to make it safer for small birds to nest away from predators, such as woodpeckers and pigeons.
'It is advised to put the nesting box up in autumn so that the birds have time to investigate it. So, we fixed it to a tree in a wild area of the nursery garden near to where the bird feeders are located. But we only got the camera into the box at the beginning of March. This was just in time. The very next day, birds started to investigate the box.
SETTLING IN
'The TV showing the live feed was set up in the office, which is adjacent to the main playroom so that children could watch whenever they wanted. Some of the children came in a lot to see what was happening with the birds and got very involved. We also had times when we encouraged groups of children to observe. The picture was in colour and very clear. There was also sound and we could hear, not only the birds in the box, but any others around and the children playing outside.
'It was so interesting to see how the blue tits built the nest in the box. Surprisingly, it took around four weeks. They actually started by 'sweeping' the nest out with their wings. The children were also fascinated by the materials they used. We had recently built a bug hotel and the blue tits took the moss from it to use in their nest, which made the children excited because they felt like they had helped. They also used tiny bits of stick, straw and feathers. This year we plan on putting more nesting materials out in the garden to encourage the birds to build, such as pieces of wool.
'The children became so attached to the blue tit pair that they named them Doris and Derek! Doris laid 13 eggs at the end of April and sat on them for two weeks. All but one of the eggs then hatched over a few days, so they had a large brood and the box got very crowded. Most of the children knew that birds lay eggs, but it was wonderful to be able to actually see and experience the whole process and now understand how the eggs hatch and chicks come out.
'We really enjoyed watching the feeding, a task which seemed relentless and was shared by both parents. They would fly into the nesting box with insects and seeds from outside. Some of the children would watch the birds on the screen and then run out to the garden when one of the birds flew out. They also made sure that the bird feeders were full.
'It caused a lot of hilarity when the fledglings got bigger and they would turn their backsides up to their mum, poo and she'd then take it away. The children were fascinated by that!
FLYING AWAY
'We have a willow dome in the garden and set it up as a bird hide for the children to observe the birds in the nursery grounds. We purchased some lovely, clear bird books that had good photos of the different birds alongside a short description. We put them in the hide with binoculars. The children enjoyed looking at and identifying the different birds and comparing their colours and markings. They also saw Doris and Derek flying backwards and forwards a lot.
'Towards the end of May we observed the chicks increasingly move around the bird box and flap up to the hole to have a look outside. We knew that they would soon be flying away. Unfortunately they fledged during the half-term break, but we think that they would have waited until the children had gone home before they flew away anyway because they would have chosen a quiet time. Some of the children were sad when the birds fledged.
'This year the staff know what to expect, so we will be more focused and aim to get even more from the learning experience by doing additional extension activities around birds and observational drawings. I'd recommend it to any nursery.'
Sue Lewis spoke to Annette Rawstrone.
FURTHER INFORMATION
- - There are a wide range of bird box cameras with prices starting at around £50 for a basic black and white camera.
- - Nurseries without a bird box camera can still experience live feeds from nesting boxes online. Simply do an online search to view anything from blue tits to ospreys in Cumbria or barn owls in California.
