When were birds observed nesting?
The data collected during the survey allowed us to look at the patterns of nesting activity of different species through time. We expected species like Blue Tit and Great Tit, that generally only have one brood each year, to show a single peak in nesting activity in the spring, and birds would not have been seen nesting much after this.
From the survey data, it is clear that most Blue Tit breeding activity has already begun by week 14 (28th March), and the majority of active nesting attempts are over by week 24 (6th June).
However, species like Blackbird, Robin and House Sparrow can have several broods of chicks each year, and therefore their nesting activity continues over a much longer time period, with reasonable numbers of Blackbird nests still being reported up to mid-July (week 30th).
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