Bird Box Web Camera

The birds which have nested in the boxes have now gone. If there is more activity within them we will turn the link to the cameras back on. If not, watch again next spring.

About The Bird Box Web Camera

The Bird Box Web Camera is a feed from one of 2 cameras placed at Park Bridge Heritage Centre, Ashton-under-Lyne.

One camera is placed looking towards a swallows nest underneath a stone roof, the other inside a bird box. The cameras will switch, depending on the activity of the birds.

Information about Tameside's Birds

Why are nest boxes important?

Providing habitats for wildlife where ever we can is especially important as numbers in some wildlife species are rapidly declining. You can easily play your part by allowing an area of your garden to become wild, installing a pond or by putting up insect boxes and nesting boxes for wild birds.

The countryside service has a whole range of sites and habitats across Tameside, including local nature reserves, country parks and small open spaces where we improve areas for wildlife by managing ponds, grassland and trees.

There are some natural nesting sites but we also provide nest boxes for birds, bats and insects and like to encourage others to improve their own spaces for wildlife. At Park Bridge we have a variety of bird-life and have installed a couple of cameras to allow us to watch nesting birds bringing up their families. You can watch and follow the progress of two species, Blue Tits and Swallows, both regular visitors and breeders at our centre here.

Swallows

Swallows, swifts and house martins are distinctive swooping birds, catching insects on the wing during warm summer evenings. We have a swallow’s nest here under the eves of the visitor centre. They make a conical shaped nest against the wall out of mud. The birds are easily identified with dark glossy blue backs, red throats, and long distinctive tail streamers. They migrate south during the winter after breeding here during the summer months. Swallows have seen recent declines due to loss of habitat quality in both their breeding and wintering grounds.

British swallows spend their winter in South Africa they travel through Spain into Morocco, and across the Sahara. They migrate by day at low altitudes and find food on the way. Swallows put on little weight before migrating they are vulnerable to starvation during these crossings. Migration is a hazardous time and many birds die from exhaustion. Migrating swallows cover up to 200 miles a day and fly at speeds of 17-22 miles per hour. Swallows arrive in the UK in April and May, returning to their wintering grounds in September and October.

Great Tits

Great Tits are a common garden bird they can be readily seen feeding in gardens on tables and bird feeders. They will make a home easily in a nest box and successfully breed. This is a new box and camera in which we have previously had many years of success attracting a breeding Blue Tit family.

The birds can be seen in flocks with other tit species and the birds will be checking out the box from early spring. They can often be seen flitting from the mirrors on vehicles in the courtyard. The birds can be seen all year round and like to eat a variety of insects, caterpillars, seeds and nuts.