Monday 23 May 2016

Blue Tits - Nesting Update.

During the weekend Anita confirmed that there were noises coming from the box in the birch at the bottom of the garden indicating that some Blue Tit eggs had hatched. Incubation normally takes between 13 to 15 days.

So after returning from a patch walk at 2pm on Monday I spent a little while monitoring the activity around the box.

The adults are notoriously quick at entering and exiting the nest box so a little patience was required to grab a few shots during a 30 minute session before the sky darkened once again ahead of another rain shower!



The normal protein source is usually juicy caterpillars but during this session the adults were obviously visiting the garden feeders for sunflower hearts and the occasional mouthful of fat enriched with meal worms.

How they manage to call with a full mouthful to announce their arrival before entering the box beats me!!

All this effort definitely takes its toll on the adult's plumage. 

If all goes well, depending on the weather and availability of the required food sources, the nestlings should fledge in about 18 - 21 days time. The monitoring will continue.

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17 comments:

  1. What pretty little birds, and how nice to have them nesting in your garden!

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  2. This is wonderful to watch on your very own garden. Lovely shots of the birds.

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  3. Wonderful photo series! It is so nice to watch parent birds care for their young. They are so diligent.

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  4. Hello, they are cute little birds. Wonderful to have them nesting in your garden so you can monitor the nest box. Happy Tuesday, enjoy your day!

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  5. geweldig mooie momenten.

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  6. Hello Frank,
    I observe in our garden always the birds, but before I had the camera in hand, they are gone again;-))
    greetings Frank

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  7. Very interesting story and monitoring! It's always curious to observe the process of becoming birds-babies =)

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  8. What a treat, observing the activity surrounding the arrival of the extended family ! Lovely captures, Frank - thank you for sharing.

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  9. Beautiful captures, Frank! Wow!

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  10. Fantastic Frank, I hope you catch them fledging :)

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  11. A great time of year, and what a pleasure to have in your garden.

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  12. How fun. This is a sweet looking bird.

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  13. It's so exciting when you know that new life is nearby. I love your photos.

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  14. Great photos. So, the Blue tit fly in to the box and out from there about thousand times during one summer. The borders of the hole of nest box will also wear out it’s plumage.

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  15. I love this! Wonderful -- so impressed with your patience and am so happy you have this family as neighbors. Mom and Dad definitely need a lot of sustenance during this important time -- I'm glad you have things in your yard to supplement their ordinary diet.

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  16. How sweet they are and how lucky to have some mealworms in reach.. They are so cute Frank...Michelle

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I hope you enjoyed your visit and I always appreciate your comments and feedback.

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