Fledgling Bank Holiday

Bank Holiday Monday morning was glorious with wall to wall Sunshine so Penny took advantage of a bit of sunbathing as well as keeping an eye on the bird feeders:

 

I was able to watch the baby Great Tits in their nest plus I was delighted when a few fledglings appeared in the garden. The first to be seen was a young Robin:

 

I can find my own food .....
 

..... but it's a lot easier if I just yell at mum and dad to feed me:


Where have those kids gone now....
 

Also visiting was a demanding Blackbird fledgling:



I'm trying for the record for the most seeds in one beak:


Finally a bit of video of the fledglings:

Now We Are Ten (days old)

How fast the Great Tit babies have grow in ten days:



Eyes are still closed but should be opening soon.

Roosting Pocket

I've had a couple of roosting pockets hanging from the side of the shed for quite a while. Regulars may remember that a Wren built a nest in one but then abandoned it.  I think they were too exposed to be of real interest to any birds. I decided to move one to a more sheltered spot at the end of the garden behind a shrub:



I fixed it near the diamond shaped nest box and adjusted the camera to look straight at it:



It didn't stay like that for very long. The recorder the camera is connected to starts recording when any movement is detected. Unfortunately even a slight breeze caused the pocket to wobble so a lot of useless recordings were being made.

In the meantime I had looked on eBay to see if any roosting pockets were for sale. Yes, there are. One I saw was built in a wooden frame which added extra shelter from the elements. I decided to try the same idea as it would be easier to fix a wooden frame so it didn't move around in a breeze.

What to use?  The obvious thing was to adapt the diamond nest box so I took it down and removed the extra panels I had fixed to the back.  The inside was pristine so it was obvious no bird had shown real interest in using it. Turning the box back to front the pocket wedged in place very snugly so that worked out well. Fixed the modified unit in place and made sure the camera got a good view of any activity:



The box is not as exposed as that view would suggest:



I don't expect any activity this time of year as the roosting pocket is designed to be a Winter shelter for a small bird. A Robin or Wren might show some interest in it as a nesting site though that would probably be next year. At least getting it all fixed up now gives time for it to become part of the natural surroundings.


The eight Great Tit babies are thriving, and growing at a fast rate, as the parents are brilliant at fetching a constant supply of live food for them.

Grub Up

Feeding time in the Great Tit nest box:



Food gathering goes on from dawn to dusk with eight hungry beaks to feed.

Great Tit Nest - Final Count

For a short while this morning I was able to see clearly how many hungry beaks were begging to be fed. Finally I could see that all eight eggs did hatch. How the babies are growing. They are just seven days old but wings and feather marking are showing. If you are very quick and observant all eight can be seen after the title fades out.



The parents are obviously doing a grand job.

Hedgehog and Great Tits

It has been three days since a Hedgehog visited but last night one was foraging for crushed unsalted peanuts in the Hedgehog House. It was followed by a mouse and at first light a Blackbird ventured in for a quick look:



The Great Tit nestbox continues to be a hive of activity with both parent birds fetching food for the babies. If the male arrives with food and the female is already there he hands over the food to her. If he is alone then he feeds them himself:

Lincolnshire - The Yellow County

People born in the county of Lincolnshire were traditionally know as yellow bellies. Usually pronounced yeller bellies. The derivation of this has been lost in the mists of time though there are several theories. See the Wikipedia entry.

Round here the county has assumed a yellow tinge as it is the time when the many fields of oilseed rape are in full flower:







For some this is not a good time as the rape flower can bring on some peoples' hay fever. I don't get affected at this time but later when it has been cut and left to die down and dry. In  damp weather the fungi which grows on the cut stems brings me out in sneezing fits.

When I was manoeuvring to get a better view of the field I spotted this little beetle glinting in the sunlight.



A search brought up a page on the Nature Plus section of the Natural History Museum site where someone had asked about the same beetle. It would appear to be a carabid beetle of the genus Amara. Carabids are ground beetles which destroy many insects pests. One of the good guys.

Everything is progressing to plan in the Great Tit nest box with both parents bringing a constant supply of grubs for the ever hungry babies. I'm still not sure how many babies - definitely seven, maybe eight.. Will try to get some more video tomorrow.