Bluetit Diary    May 2009 (16)

 

 

Wednesday 20th May, 2009

Bella's chicks are developing rapidly!  Look at this chick preparing to present a faecal sac to Bella!  Its outstretched wings show how much they have grown during the last few days.

This chick looks like being the boss chick.  It's certainly at the top of the pile this time.

More chick feathers on display.

In spite of my misgivings, Fay's remaining three chicks still seem to be OK.

I ran through the picture record for Box1 yesterday morning in order to count how often Fay fed the chicks.  During the 2½ hours I observed, she fed the chicks 14 times - that means they get fed about once every 10 minutes.

After most feeds, Fay spent about 5 minutes sitting on the chicks.  Then she was off again to look for more food for them.

There is no sign of Fay's fourth chick.  Whether she disposed of it during the the period we are switched off, presumably because it was now dead, or whether it is under that large feather beneath the nest box hole, we probably shan't know until I clean out the box in the autumn.

Certainly, the nest box isn't crawling with flies and this points to Fay having disposed of the dead body.

Because Bella's chicks are now so large and the nest cup edges are collapsing into the middle, it is difficult to count how many chicks Bella now has.  Here you can see 6 chicks.

Finally, at 10 o'clock last night we briefly switched on to see whether Fay is still sitting on the chicks during the night.

She was!

Bella, on the other hand, is no longer even roosting in the box over night.

She will be back tomorrow!