Mooney goes wild as bird-cam almost ends in disaster but eagle-eyed fans save the day

INTERNET nature enthusiasts were left in a flutter yesterday after a freak wind threatened Derek Mooney’s blue tits.

The RTÉ radio presenter made a frantic dash to his garden when the live internet video suggested disaster had struck.

“When I woke this morning and looked at the camera I could see something was wrong, it looked as if the nest was upside down. When I went outside I could see the box had come clean off the wall,” he said.

For the past two weeks, more than 250,000 people have been logging on to watch the first days in the life of a nest of blue tits.

However, yesterday all that was in danger when the bird box came clean off the wall.

The only thing that saved the nest from certain tragedy was the cables connecting the camera in the bird box.

This kept the box intact long enough for emergency measures to secure the box back on the wall.

The trauma had its benefits as well. It allowed the team to finally confirm there are definitely eight nestlings in the nest and preparing to take their first flight.

It was not the first time their lives were in danger after the roof blew off the box last weekend.

Derek told his listeners yesterday he got into a panic on noticing the latest trouble and rang co-presenter Dermot O’Neill to help rescue the family.

The pair blamed a nearby plant for putting the birds in jeopardy. It had a loose branch that was blowing in the wind and had struck the box.

This has been cut away to protect the nestlings in the final days of the nest.

Had the blue tits died, the only winner would have been Paddy Power bookmakers. The company is offering odds on when the birds will fly the nest but this is not expected for at least another week.

Although Terry Flanagan, who works on the radio show, was monitoring the nestlings yesterday and said he expects them to begin flying the nest sooner rather than later.

“It is like Dublin Airport at the moment with the amount of times the adults are going in and out. You can see the nestlings sitting up on the edge and I think they will fly the nest in the next couple of days,” he said.

Judging by the activity in recent days Mr Flanagan said he expects the young birds to make their dash for freedom in the morning time.

The first person to spot yesterday’s trauma was an internet viewer in Germany who mailed the show during the night to say there was something wrong.

This is evidence of the international fame enjoyed by the two-week-old blue tits.

The phenomenal interest in the live webcam has seen more than 250,000 people log onto the RTÉ website to watch the chicks’ progress.

Derek said it is striking a chord across the world.

“We’ve had mails from France, India and the US. That is the great thing about the world wide web, it doesn’t recognise borders,” he said.

log on at: http://www.rte.ie/radio/mooneygoeswild/features/mooneycam/index.html