Blue Tit Big Brother

Things are starting to look great in the garden now. The brown mess that was the lawn after it had been scarified is now lush and green, and the new area of lawn is starting to look a bit like a lawn. The wild flower meadow has been a little disappointing. We’ve had no flowers, but the grasses are coming on well. It’s a huge change from what things looked like just after the garden makeover

One of the great joys has been the pond. It’s teaming with life. The tadpoles are just starting to develop legs. There are damsel flies, a plethora of mini beasties, a couple of frogs and we were delighted to see a newt the other day. It’s quite amazing how much wildlife has just arrived in our little hole in the ground.

Tags: frog, Garden, newt, pond

All seven chicks have fledged!

It happened quite suddenly this morning. One or two more adventurous chicks spent the early part of the morning fluttering up to the hole and looking out. After only seeing the inside walls of nesting box for their entire lives this must have been quite a revelation for them.

Then one made the mistake of looking out of the entrance whilst one of the parents was in the nest. The parent basically pushed him out! But once one had flown the nest they all followed. Within a few minutes the nest was empty.

Here’s a slightly shaky view from outside of the last chick getting ready to leave.

Tags: blue tit, chick, fledge, fly, nest, nest box, NestCam

Wow, that’s some meal. But what goes in…

Tags: blue tit, blue tits, caterpillar, chicks, nestbox, NestCam, worm

The chicks look like little blue tits now, fully feathered and winged. Lots of wing stretching and trampling on the others going on. There are still 7, but 1 or 2 look much smaller and weaker, so even if they fledge sadly they probably won’t last long.

Tags: blue tits, chicks, nestbox, nestwatch, wing stretch

The chicks are growing at a tremendous rate. They have more feathers, their eyes are open and they’re starting to look more cute! There are still 7 of them, though it’s usually pretty difficult to count more than 6 at a time. Karma and Buzz continue to feed very frequently and have to remove poo almost as frequently!

Tags: blue tit, chicks, nestbox, NestCam