Poorly chicken

[Gertie]

I have not seen much activity from one of mine either Olly. I can't see into it as its in the gable of the roof, but last week the Great Tit was in and out continuously. Now nothing . I'm just praying that my cat hasn't been involved

[Ain't Nobody Here]

How sad .

 

OH peeked into our nestbox yesterday and thankfully the bluetit is still sitting on the eggs.

[RyanR]

Second nest of Blackbirds flew the nest this morning, (why do they wait for wet or windy weather)

Went out the front just as one of the fledglings, who was sitting on the path asking to be fed was

dropped on by a Carrion Crow. I rescued it and I don't think it's injured. Put it back in the bush near it's nest

and heard one of the parents calling, so hopefully one of them will come back to it.

[Old Speckled Hen]

All of the chicks have died

 

So sad.

The downside of having it all on camera. Worse is watching them all perish

Our blue tit pair are feeding six chicks, out of nine eggs, I am supplementing their diet (which seems to be including my bees) with mealworms early in the morning to give them a good start.

 

Our Kites have hatched something....can't see but yesterday I saw the female fly in with a vole and we often see her tearing food up and gently offering it to something JUST out of sight.

Can't wait to see when they/it's big enough.

[Luvachicken]

Wow, kites, you lucky thing.

 

As for the coloured nest box I have, it seems that the eggs hatched this morning but it just seems to be the female feeding them.

I have counted 6 mouths but not sure how they will fare with just her feeding

[Old Speckled Hen]

The male might well be around.

I had blue tits fledge 16 one year and this year is the first I have seen two adults in the nest with the babies.

Our tit has five left out of nine.

Silly female has been offering them bits of peanut so I took the feeder down and provided more mealworms. The baby marans like them too.

Yesterday we caught a glimpse of the young kites head ....so there is at least one

[Luvachicken]

Old Speckled Hen, do you give them fresh or dried meal worms ?

If they are dry I can put some out tomorrow

[Old Speckled Hen]

Fresh

[Luvachicken]

Fresh

 

Ooooo, yuck.

I guess I can pop out and get some when I have finished at preschool.

Thanks for that - at least I'll feel like I might have helped.

[Old Speckled Hen]

If you want to do it seriously....next year

Get your mealworms from somewhere like http://www.livefoodsdirect.co.uk

They are horrendously expensive from somewhere like pets at home.

It's fascinating watching a tiny chick eat a worm as long as itself!!!

[Luvachicken]

Down to three chicks in the nestbox today

[Old Speckled Hen]

All six of ours going strong and getting ready to leave the nest. One is a little runty and I suspect it might get left behind....shame

[Luvachicken]

When I left for work yesterday morning, I could still hear the chicks from inside the box.

Sadly when I got home later, I checked the camera and the last 3 remaining chicks had died.

 

It is such a shame - all that hard work making the nest, laying the eggs and incubating them, and then rushing about trying to feed them.

I knew the male had left her and maybe with his help they would have survived, but what also would have helped is if she collected just food and not more nesting material.

[Daphne]

 

Can anybody tell me how many clutches sparrows have in a year - the 2nd lot are fledging now, but I wondered if they might have more?

[Old Speckled Hen]

Sorry luvachicken

the male may not have left her. He could have been predated.

Maybe she'll have better luck next year.

 

Daphne

 

Our sparrows had three clutches last year if that's any help

 

I'm watching the last four in my nest box. Two have already gone and both parents are making huge efforts to oust the rest....sometimes bringing in food,waving it about and exiting the nest without feeding them.

I have just put out mealworms...they have had a good feed and are now asleep and the parents are yelling at them outside the nest box!

 

On a sadder note....we had a juvenile Greater Spotted Woodie fly into the window and get killed:(

I put his body out into the field next door and the female Kite took him.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

That's very sad news from you both .

 

Our bluetits are getting big now, won't be long before they're off.

[Luvachicken]

I have seen some baby blue tits in the garden so someone elses box has been successful

And I had 2 baby nuthatches in the garden with a parent

[Mrs Webmuppet]

We have Dunnocks nesting in the overgrown shrub under the kitchen window, next to the out door tap. My comings and goings to the tap doesn't seem to bother them. I can't actually see the nest but they have certainly hatched and fledged one chick as we see the comings and goings .....they hop along the fence then disappear into the overground bush! It's the height of laziness as they help themselves to the chooks bedding and feathers and we have bird feeders too!

[Old Speckled Hen]

Last blue tit fledged this morning. I was worried about it as it was on its own for three days.

Parents came to feed it though and it went in the end.

That's it for this year then.

Kites are looking bigger every day and are not little white balls any longer.

Hubby's away for three days so I've sneaked them a few chicken wings

[Old Speckled Hen]

Well.....we had an exciting few days last week.

The Kite nest has 2 chicks.

One fell out and we found it on the compost heap

 

 

We fed it for three days till somebody from the Welsh Red Kite Trust came to climb our 60foot pine tree to return it to the nest.

Both chicks have been ringed and tagged and are doing well.

"Our chick is male and there is a larger sister in the nest. She is nearly ready to fledge.

:)

[Purplemaniacs]

Wow what a fantastic photo.

 

We have lots of red kites around here, we sat in the garden yesterday evening and there must have been a dozen or more flying around and being very vocal. I did wonder if we might get some nesting next year.

 

Chrissie

 

[Luvachicken]

WOW.

That is lovely.

You must live in such a beautiful place

[Daphne]

Fabulous! I think kites must be getting more common, there was one circling over my Mum's last week in the hot weather, and I've not seen them there before. But not many of us get up close and personal like your photo, it must have been quite a thrill

[Old Speckled Hen]

Update.

The Female chick has by and large fledged. She has been hopping about from branch to branch and I saw her in a neighbouring tree yesterday. There is still the odd foray back to the nest.

The parents have been calling and enticing both birds out. It must have been a long two months hard work for them.

I am helping out with food which I put out in the morning. I whistle and the male comes down for it. Wonderful. I shall miss them when they go.

[Princess Leia]

Not nesting, but a visitor we've never seen in our garden (in 21 years here) appeared earlier last week - A Lesser Spotted Woodpecker. There it was, large (well, quite small, actually) as life, swinging on the bird feeder with the fat balls in and pecking away happily.