Bluetit Diary    May 2005 (7)

 

 

Sunday 8th May (part2)

However, it is not always sweetness and light.  Sometimes there is a real tussle to decide who will feed the chicks.

Boris arrives inside the nest box when Kelly is brooding the chicks.  To begin with she sits tight.

After a little while it looks as though she is giving way as she often does, and she starts to get off the next cup.

Boris still has the item of food in his beak.

All of a sudden, she turns round and puts herself between Boris and the chicks.  Now she is in control of the situation again!

Boris doesn't like that and a bout of pushing and shoving takes place ...

... that Boris might have thought ...

... he had won ...

  ...  until Kelly does a kind of reverse shuffle ...

  .. and ends up practically sitting on Boris - and is again in control of his access to the chicks!

However, Boris doesn't give up that easily and unable to get directly to the chicks, seems to try to bypass Kelly by jumping over her!

So much for Boris's plan - all Kelly has to do is to sit down firmly on the chicks again - game, set and match to Kelly!

Or is it?

Diplomacy having failed, Boris appears to resort to brute force and lunges down into the nest cup!

I wonder whether, after all that, there was any food left to give to the chicks!

After that, Boris departs while Kelly nurses her injured pride - she actually looks as though she has got the hump!

Finally, just to show there's no hard feelings, only a minute later Boris is back with a small caterpillar as a peace offering that he meekly passes to Kelly to feed to the chicks.