Bluetit Diary    May 2011 (18)

 

 

Monday 23rd May, 2011

It was some time before we noticed that one of Amy's chicks has flown the nest today!  All the action appeared to be happening in Box3 and the fact that a solitary chick had left Box1 was overlooked.  Fortunately, we still had all the pictures taken by the Box1 cameras and so we could reconstruct the story.

The world outside the nest box can be a dangerous place!  We are not quite sure whether this is a magpie or a crow, but if that talon caught a chick it wouldn't have much chance whoever owned it!

At this stage (it is just after 8am), all seven chicks are still in the box.  Here Amy is bringing in a mealworm.  Considering that she is managing to support these chicks entirely on her own, and has been doing so since 17th May, she is doing a fantastic job.

One of the chicks has repeatedly looked out of the hole, so it should have been no surprise to us for it to fledge ...

... and fledge it did!

The remaining six chicks show very mixed reactions.  One is trying to pretend it is still asleep, another is protesting vociferously that any chick should be so foolish as to leave the box, but most just seem uninterested in the whole thing.

However, none of the others followed the first chick out of the nest box and so at the end of the day there were still six chicks left there.

Back  Forward