There are definitely seven hungry mouths opening today. The gapes are really bright yellow now and you can see some fluff appearing on some of the chicks’ bodies. The female has still spent 3/4 of her time sitting on them and delving very deep into the nest on several occasions…… not quite sure what she was doing!
Noticed today that the chicks are upturning and depositing their faecal sacs and the parents are either eating them or removing them from the nest… that was not so apparant yesterday. They are much more sensitive to the parents returning now and their little beaks open without much prompting.
Also some quite big caterpillars appearing…. one shown in the picture below. I was suprised when it was crammed into one of those tiny chicks. No wonder they grow so quickly!
The adult removes a faecal sac from one of the chicks
A big caterpillar is brought in…… surely a tiny chick can’t manage that!
