The weeks are flying past and it is difficult at times to keep up with all the activity in the garden!
My blackbird chick has been growing at an amazing rate, especially as he was an only child! The female did lay three eggs but only this one hatched. On Friday, I was lucky enough to be checking the footage early and I saw him teetering on the edge. I quickly plugged the laptop in to record. He simply did not look ready to go, even though he was just about fully feathered and his primaries were pretty well developed. It was cold, wet and the thought of him out in the open made me worry for his survival.
Here he is, taking the plunge!
I rushed outside, in the rain, to see if I could see where he had jumped to. There is a steep bank of ivy opposite and a gully. He was deep inside a tangle of ivy and I could hear him chirruping. The male and female continued to return to the nest and look very confused until they located him. They continued to feed him, so I am hoping he will survive. Maybe they will choose to raise another family in this nest… I hope so!
You can see the whole story of this nest on my blackbird nest page HERE
The blue tit in the patio nest box has been laying for nearly 13 days now… could she really have more than ten eggs in there? It is possible as they tend to lay one a day. Late in the week she started spending more time in there and the male has been to feed her. Maybe incubation has begun and we can expect to see lots of hungry mouths in a couple of weeks time. The image in this Wildlife Windows nest box is brill as it has some white LEDs inside… we are going to get some amazing images from this nest box! You can follow the blue tit’s story HERE
My jackdaws did not build a very impressive nest, to be honest and the eggs the female has laid are actually sitting on the base of the box as there are hardly any materials in there! The female has laid four eggs so far and the average clutch is 4 – 5, so we may see one more yet. The male has been bringing her food and has also mated with her inside the box on a number of occasions. She started incubating after the 2nd egg was laid, so these chicks will hatch at different times. Jackdaw incubation period is around 20 days and I am really looking forward to watching this new family! This is the first time I have watched the whole cycle with a corvid and I am sure they are going to be a great family to watch! Follow their story HERE
The great tit has been building in earnest in the Plum Tree nest box. The blue tits made a start in here back in the warm spell we had in March and blue tits nested in here last year. In the space of one day, the great tit filled the nest box with moss from my nesting dispensers… they were all empty in the patio area near the nest box! She has been roosting in there at night too. She then started bringing in softer materials, so I loaded a wooden spatula with Bryn, my dog’s, fur by pushing it through the holes. I mounted the adapted Bushnell near it and went inside. Back at my computer, I saw her bring a load in, so knew the Bushnell would have triggered. Over a 20 minute period, she went backwards and forwards, filling the nest with his soft, fluffy hair….
Follow the great tit story HERE
We will have a small lull now whilst incubation completes, but luckily these birds have kindly staggered their families, giving me a chance to try to document them all!
Keep watching out on my live cams for latest views and updates.
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