Fay's three chicks last thing yesterday evening.
Yesterday, by the end of the day, three of Fay's chicks had hatched out. Overnight another egg must have hatched as first thing this morning she had four chicks.
First thing this morning there are four chicks.
To be honest, we would have been quite pleased if none of the other eggs had hatched as we think that she might have a chance of rearing three chicks by herself, whereas if there were seven or eight she would have much less of a chance.
To our great relief, Fay seems to be doing a pretty good job in looking after the chicks by herself. The warmish weather helps - and so do the mini-mealworms that Elizabeth is putting out for her in a bluetit only feeder for her.
Bella's chicks are coming on nicely. In the last couple of days they seem to have changed from being scrawny chicks to miniature adult bluetits. Quite amazing!
Bill's disappearance has made us think about Bertie. For some time we have felt it odd that Bella and Bertie are never in the box at the same time. The last time this happened was on 6th May - only four days after the eggs started hatching.
Another odd thing is that we have always noted that in the past, the male and the female parent birds come to feed the chicks on different sides of the nest cup. We have always assumed that this is to avoid collisions inside the nest box! We have also commented that unusually, we cannot distinguish between Bella and Bertie. We are therefore forced to the conclusion that Bertie has disappeared too and that from about 7th May, Bella has been on her own!
If that is true, then she has been doing a fantastic job!
At the end of the day, Fay still has only four chicks. Let's hope no more hatch out overnight!