Today has been the wettest day for weeks - and today was the day Beauty's chicks decided to start hatching!
At about 5.20 this afternoon, Elizabeth looked at Box1 - and found Beauty eating some egg shell!! She nibbled away at it, and pulled at a stretchy bit (the membrane?), before settling down again.
Beau, who at this time did not know the chicks had started hatching, brought in a large caterpillar intended for Beauty, which she tried to feed to the little pink wriggly thing who did not even have its mouth open. In the end, she ate it herself, then moved to one side so that we could just see a little gape.
A little while later, we saw her eating more shell, but we could not decide whether it was the other half of the first piece, or part of a second shell. You can just make out 2 chicks here, one with its mouth wide open!
This shows the 3rd egg hatching at the top of the clutch. Click on the image for a larger version!
Here you can see(?) 5 eggs and 3 chicks, two with their beaks wide open! Again, click for a bigger version.
Beau has come in here when Beauty had just popped out for a breather. He doesn't quite know what to do but in the end feeds his offering directly to the chick himself.
Beau watches while Beauty passes his morsel of food to a chick. He often stays a little while after he has passed his food item to Beauty and takes great interest in what she is doing with it. Is this the bluetit version of Daddy bonding with the kids? Of course, it is warmer and drier in the nest....
It's time for bed. How many chicks will there be tomorrow morning?