Bluetit Diary    May 2012 (15)

We start with business as usual - a visit from Becky (I think!) which ends with her removing a faecal sac.

Becky leaving the nest box ...

... and flying away.

Less than 30 seconds later the male GSW arrives.

He has a look inside ...

... and presumably liking what he sees, tries to get in further.  One of the chicks is clearly oblivious to the danger and is still begging for more food!

The GSW seems to have heard something.  From what follows this is probably one of the bluetit parents - maybe both - making alarm calls.

Amazingly, one of the parents attacks the woodpecker.  I cannot conceive of it being able to do any damage to this much larger bird, but it can distract it from getting into the nest box.  This happened before when one of our boxes attracted the attention of a woodpecker.

This attack doesn't seem to make much difference to the woodpecker ...

... which reacts by showing off his size and power!

He then has another attempt at reaching inside the box.

Although he has got in further this time, he still cannot reach the chicks which have now got the message and are keeping low inside the nest cup.

Just look at that fearsome beak though!

Another lunge into the nest box entrance.

Again, no joy for the woodpecker.

Interestingly, there was no attempt by the woodpecker to make the hole larger.

Instead, he appears to lose interest ...

... and leaves.  You can just see his tail feathers at the bottom right of this picture.

Immediately, Becky rushes back the nest box to see whether her chicks are all right.  Fortunately, they are!

Phew!

Let's hope the woodpecker's chicks are about to leave their nest so that he won't come back when the chicks are just about to fledge.  If they are, they will be wandering all over the bottom of the nest box.

The last time we received the attentions of a GSW, the chicks cowered on the floor just below the entrance hole within the reach of the woodpecker's beak.  More than one chick was lost that time!