Watch nestcam action of kestrels and terns

With Easter on the horizon, you may be forgiven for thinking about eggs.

Some say Easter eggs date back to medieval times, when eating eggs was forbidden during Lent. By Easter Sunday it would have been a delight to indulge in eating eggs again.

Although we may be participating in the odd chocolate egg or two, at RSPB Pagham Harbour we will also be getting excited about birds’ nests and eggs.

The breeding season is already underway, and the blue tits have been busy bringing in nesting material on our nestcams for a couple weeks now. It looks a lovely cosy nest of moss and wool.

Between staff and volunteers there is fierce competition guessing when the first egg will be laid, how many eggs will they lay and when will they hatch. The timing is actually critical and should coincide with an abundance of caterpillars to feed the hungry chicks. Hatch too early and they will starve. Leave it too late and competition for food is much greater with the arrival of our summer visitors.

The weather can play havoc too. Heavy rain knocks caterpillars and other insects off leaves and branches making food difficult to find. Blue tits only have one brood a year, unlike their cousins the great tits who often have two, so we are keeping our fingers crossed for them.

Our nestcams will be running throughout the spring and summer, hopefully bringing us more fantastic views of the kestrels, terns and maybe some new characters.

You can watch our nestcam action in our visitor centre and of course we will be running family events during the Easter holidays – check out our website for more details and to book your child’s place, events.rspb.org.uk/ paghamharbour