Bluetit Diary    Dec 2010 (7)

We will start shortly after eleven this morning when Harry comes back to his box.

He flies straight in and onto the shelf.

Directly Harry has gone in, Will comes to the box, landing on the roof just above the entrance.  He looks through the hole.

As he can see no sign of Harry, who at this time is on the shelf and hidden from Will's viewpoint, he flies down to the entrance hole.

This invokes an immediate reaction from Harry ...

... who flies up to the hole and as he has done in the past, he grabs one of Will's legs in his beak.

Harry is a quick learner.  Having made a bad mistake by leaving the entrance hole unguarded the first time these two birds met on 25th December, he hasn't made that mistake again.  However, Will appears to be not so quick on the uptake as he has allowed his claw to be caught by Harry several times now, and each time ends in a humiliating defeat for him.

Here you can see Harry with Will's claw in his beak.

Four seconds later it is still there!

Will must be getting desperate. 

He cannot seem to do anything to counter this strategy of Harry's.

I never realised before that bluetits had a thick layer of white down beneath their wings!  Of course, one doesn't often see them from this angle.

Will tries to fly off ...

... only to be held back by Harry who doesn't let go!

As a result, Will dangles helplessly by the leg which is still firmly held in Harry's beak.

Finally, after a great struggle lasting over 15 seconds, Will manages to free himself ...

... so that Harry falls to the floor ...

... and Will immediately flies out of camera range.

Harry stays awhile on the floor.  He must be exhausted by the effort of holding onto Will, but he has clearly suffered no injuries from his fight.

After about 5 minutes, Harry leaves the nest box.

What puzzles me is why Will doesn't seem to want to go inside the box when Harry is not there.  Several times he has come to the entrance when the box is empty, but each time he has turned around and flown off.