At 8.30, Fay comes to the nest box again. This time she doesn't go into the box but stays on the hole outside. Perhaps she is calling to the chicks.
(I wish we had our boxes wired for sound!)
This prompts one of the chicks to jump up to the hole and look outside for the first time.
The other chick seems to be taking a dim view of what the first is up to and is ignoring it completely.
Five minutes later Fay is back on the hole. Again she doesn't go inside.
Again, one of the chicks responds by having another look outside.
Ten seconds later it looks as if it had decided to fledge!
But no - that's too much to contemplate and the chick retreats inside the box.
Just over a minute later Fay comes back to the box and this time she goes inside.
She seems to show the chicks what they must do. "You just flap your wings like this - and they will take you wherever you want to go!"
This is the only time we can ever remember Fay flapping her wings inside the nest box!
"Come on - follow me!"
Within a couple of minutes one of the chicks pokes its head well and truly out of the box.
Cautiously it edges forward ...
... and nearly falls out of the nest box!
It's gone!
The time is 8.42. This is the latest first fledge we can remember.
"Don't leave me!"
The other chick flies up to the hole ...
... and looks outside too.
Fay comes back and encourages the chick while perching on the edge of the box.
When the chick drops down, she goes to the hole but does not go inside.
The second chick is clearly frightened ...
... but somehow finds the courage ...
... to contemplate leaving too!
Just a bit more!
And two seconds later away it goes!!
At a quarter to nine in the evening, this is the latest fledging ever.
And at half past eight, they looked as though they had settled down for another night in the nest box!
A minute later, Mum goes back to check that there aren't any more chicks to fledge. I suppose this proves that bluetits can't count!
One minute later, the cameras turn off automatically. For once we were lucky!