Today started with a bright sunny morning with a high of 9.0°C. The sort of morning that all the birds just sound that little more alive than when it is dull and overcast.

There were four visits to the hopeful 'des res' today, between 9.36am and 10.44am, before the clouds started to gather once again.

The first visit lasted all of 3 seconds and saw a very cautious bird peering through the hole, upwards towards the internal light:

Obviously curious about what it might just have seen, it returned some 30 seconds later for an even quicker glance. It landed on the hole, and then quickly took off again:

The third visit was by far the longest, and it almost looked as if it would make an entry at one point.

The bird took some 45 seconds investigating in and around the hole, poking its head inside, and also taking time to survey the garden from its perched vantage point.

It even flew off momentarily, quite obviously onto the top of the outside camera as the image shook once or twice - only to return once more for another look:

It was this second look that caught our attention, as for once it wasn't spending all of its time looking in the direction of the glass wall (something that still concerns us a little):

Towards the end of the visit, an upturned crest could clearly be seen, which flattened, only to raise itself once more as the bird took in its surroundings:

You can see the inspection here.

35 minutes later and the final visit of the day took place, although it was again one of those 'stop, look and see' exercises before it ventured off into the garden for something a little more exciting!

As expected, the small amount of activity that is recorded at this time of year is in the morning, and here is the visiting pattern so far, since the bird box was put up: