Bluetit Diary    Apr 2003 (35)

 

 

Tuesday 29th April, 2003 (part 2)

Flash feeding Fluffy  .  .  .

.  .  .  and Fred feeding Fantail

Perhaps all these F's wasn't such a good idea.  I often get confused about who partners whom! 

The next picture shows an enthusiastic Fred bringing food to Fantail, only to find that she is not at home.  He flew off with it still in his beak.

Where's she gone then?  She was here a minute ago!

The next sequence shows the best example that we can remember of a male looking after his partner.  Fred brought food for Fantail five times in just under two and a half minutes!

What had Fred discovered that caused him to be so enthusiastic?  Whatever it was must have been very close.

By about half past six Fantail is settling down for the night.  Then at 6.50pm she goes out one last time before dark.  Finally, when we switched off at 7.20pm, you could see her mothering her clutch rather than with her head under her wing.  Surely she couldn't be starting to incubate yet, she only has 4 eggs!  Time will tell.

When we had a quick look at Fluffy, we found that she too was having an early night and had gone to sleep.

More eggs tomorrow?