Beauty's 7 chicks in Box1 continue to develop. On the left you can just make out six open beaks - and one closed one!
Next, Beau is to be seen feeding 6 gapes. Why are all 7 never all hungry at the same time?
There are now 5 chicks and 6 eggs in Box2. One more egg hatched over night. The mealworm feeder at the bottom of the garden has been discovered by the Box1 birds, and a great tit is using it too.
Victor continues to feed Battler regularly and she continues to spread her wings submissively as he comes into the nest box. Sometimes we realise that she has heard him outside as she spreads her wings in anticipation, but he does not appear. Whether she mishears or he changes his mind is not clear.
The best news is yet to come! By late afternoon there were still only 5 chicks and we were beginning to think that this may be Battler's lot. However, at 7 o'clock this evening we saw Battler pick up an intact half eggshell and remove it from the nest. (Previously she has eaten the shell).
The latest addition is fairly obvious as it is smaller and a more lurid pink than the others. This is clearly seen in the right hand image where it is it the top left position.
It appears a plucky thing and can be seen here fighting for its share of the food along with the others - it is the open gape in the middle of this image.
However, being realistic, what chance will it have, being about 33 hours younger than the first hatchling? This is a long time in the life of a chick.
Tuesday 21st May
Well, Scrap, the last of Battler's chicks to hatch, survived the night and can clearly be seen on the image on the left. He is the tiny pink blob at the top of the nest and appears half the size of the two chicks just below him.
On the right, in an image taken about a minute later, he can be seen begging for food. He's not given up the fight yet!
This is Victor with his (or perhaps not all his?) chicks. Scrap is the one in the middle at the top. His gape is half the size of that of the other chicks!
On the left is Beauty doing the housework.
The male bluetits never deign to get their beaks dirty by helping with the cleaning, although they do do their share of the equivalent of nappy changing.
As a teaser at the end of the day, Beauty (in Box1) has given us a poser. Does this image, taken only a second after the preceding one, show eight chicks? Click the image for a bigger version.