Bluetit Diary    May 2003 (19)

 

 

Thursday 8th May, 2003 (part 3)

So how's Fluffy getting on?  She is still incubating in her rather relaxed style.  She only has five eggs to look after and she seems to treat them very casually, frequently leaving them for extended periods.  Perhaps they have built in anti-cold genes.

Fluffy nearly buried in the nest cup.  She appears to be much more restless than Fantail.  Here she has got off the nest to look outside, but after a short while she returns to her maternal duties without leaving the nest.

Flash does not feed her very regularly either.  On the right Fluffy is shown getting out of the nest cup prior to leaving the nest yet again.

Finally, here is Fluffy doing some nest mining.

We always used to think that a bird's brood patch would be beneath the front of her body.  Here you can see that it is the area beneath her tail where Fluffy has lost her feathers.  This has been evident with previous bluetits that we have watched.

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