It was very tentative and peeped inside the opening a few times, calling very softly. It must have stuck around for a few minutes before buggering off to the large tree behind our fence.
Almost immediately another Tit flew onto the chopstick - we assumed this was our female, but no! THIS was our male. (distinct smudge on his beard).
HE stuck around for a good 5 minutes giving his alarm call. Behind him, we could quite clearly see two other Blue Tits , our female we presume, AND the "intruder". (They were not together).
We are now of the opinion that we have an interested third party - but we don't know the sex of this bird. It is most probably another male chancing his luck, and I do know that like a lot of birds, the Blue Tit is more than "happy" to be a bit incestuous!
It looks like our male will have to start pulling his weight a bit more from now on, and defending his territory better, or he'll be discarded for another male!
We also noted three Great Tits in or around the garden this morning. I think the nest box opening is too small for Great Tits, but I wouldn't be surprised if they check it out if they see it...
Life is tough for our couple at the moment!
The photo below is of a Great Tit ((c) Arthur Grosset), a bigger Tit than the Blue Tit, with a black cap and a bold black stripe down the middle of its breast.
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