Boris and Kelly are showing their qualities as parents of six (or more?) chicks. It is interesting to see the rivalry as well as the co-operation between the two of them when it comes to feeding their chicks. Babe is just quietly getting on with incubating her five eggs.
It's the start of another day and as usual, Boris is bringing some food to the nest.
Sometimes, as on this occasion, Boris doesn't want to give the food to Kelly, but wants to feed the chicks himself. You can often see the tussle between them. If Kelly sits tight, Boris can't get to the chicks to feed them and eventually he will have to pass the food to her.
This time, Kelly moves aside so that Boris can do the honours himself.
This time Boris has come into the nest when Kelly is away. He is quite an adept now and has no problem in getting one of the chicks to take his morsel.
But how many chicks are there? To be honest, we still don't know! Here is a definite 5 beaks, 4 of them open in expectation as Kelly comes into the nest box.
In spite of the fact that Kelly is covering part of the nest cup, you can again see 5 gapes. We think there are probably 6 chicks but we will have to be patient and wait until they are bigger before we can be sure!
Earlier I said that Boris was getting adept at feeding the chicks. In fact he is more than that, he is a master! In this picture you can see Kelly leaving the nest in the early afternoon.
Quick as a flash, Boris is in with some food!
Less than a minute later and he is back again.
Kelly was away from the nest only 12 minutes. During that time Boris came in 8 times with food for the chicks, sometimes his visits were only 30 seconds apart!
Twelve minutes later, Kelly returns.