Blue tit nest box cam - page 3

Thursday 16th May First chicks hatched today

Click on any of the images for an enlarged view

The last of 11 eggs was laid on Saturday 4th May. The first few chicks hatched on the afternoon of 16th May, 11 days later. On the larger images (click to enlarge) it's possible to see the chick and its legs emerging from the egg in picture 1, plus a crack in the egg above it.

By 5.30 p.m. the second chick had hatched. It emerged from the egg with its mouth open, picture 1 below. Oh no! Another mouth to feed. Imagine if all eleven hatch! The female has been quite relaxed for the last eleven days. Now it's going to be hectic for the next few weeks, until the young are ready to leave the nest.

Although 'dad' has been around every now and again, mum has often had to leave the nest to get food and take away the empty egg shells. Mums around the world will be thinking it's very similar to what happens with human babies! By 9.00 p.m. there were two more chicks, giving a total now of 4, with 7 eggs remaining.

Let's hope 'dad' starts pulling his weight tomorrow, all 9 grams of it ! 9 grams is less than half an ounce, for those " still using old money. "

Friday 17th May 8.00 a.m.

6 chicks now. Sorry - seven. Another has just hatched as I write this update! Mum has taken away the empty shell and now the male seems to be showing an interest in the new brood. It takes time for men to adapt to such huge changes in their lifestyle! At night she sleeps on top of the chicks to keep them warm. Dad has never slept in the nest box.

Saturday 18th May 10.30 a.m.

10 chicks. I think there may be one more unhatched egg underneath the seething mass of 2 day old chicks. The male is helping out more, and occasionally feeds the chicks himself. Usually he just passes the food directly to 'mum'. She also leaves the nest and returns with food. When you see the live food that's constantly being brought to the chicks it makes you realize that we shouldn't reach out for the spray gun and kill everything in sight with insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and every other type of .....cide imaginable

Sunday 19th May

No new images as there's been very little change in the chicks. There are no signs of the remaining unhatched egg, so I assume that there are now 11 chicks in the nest. It's very difficult to make out the individual chicks at this stage. Yesterday evening both mum and dad were bringing food to their young until 9 p.m. I've bought some small mealworms from a local pet shop to try and make life a little easier for the parent birds.

Monday 20th May - New page created Click here to visit

Nest Box Cam - page 1	Installing the camera
Nest Box Cam - page 2	Nest building and the subsequent 11 eggs
Nest Box Cam - page 4	The chicks - now 4 days old
Nest Box Cam - page 5	Nest cleaning and toileting procedures!
Nest box Cam - page 6	The final chapter

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