Bluetit Diary    May 2008 (11)

 

 

Wednesday 21st May, 2008

Sally's chicks are getting more like adults every day. 

Here a chick is having another flapping session.  I do not remember seeing wing flapping this early before - after all, these chicks are not expected to fledge for another week!

Another bout of wing flapping.  I wonder whether there is more than one chick doing it or is it only one precocious chick?

It is becoming increasingly difficult to catch a picture of all the chicks at the same time.  This image shows 8 gapes - pretty good in the circumstances!

Over in Box3, Freda has four days incubating to go.  Here she takes a short break and has a look out of the box.

Ken is still frequently to be seen feeding her.  Judging by this he will make an excellent parent when there are chicks to feed.

Sally's chicks are growing rapidly and are beginning to look like adults.  Here one is starting to climb out of the nest cup that has been their home so far in their brief life.

As it climbs out, it takes the opportunity to stretch its wings - and you can see how much the wing feathers have grown in the last few days.

Finally, we took another opportunity to see whether Sally was still keeping the chicks warm during the night.

As you can see, there is no sign of Sally.  She must have found the growing chicks just too much to sit on now.

This is the first night she has left the chicks are on their own.