Nest Box Diary 2009

Week 5 - 3rd May

Wriggly had not simply spent her time on the nest staring at four walls. No, just like our past Blue Tit residents, she had been knitting the animal hair together to form a very neat nest cup.

She was turning the eggs with increasing frequency and leaving them unattended for much shorter intervals too. Her mate was also feeding her more often, typically 3 or 4 times an hour. The chicks were expected to hatch from their eggs on Thursday or Friday this week, assuming the incubation period was going to be neither extraordinarily short or long.

Thursday morning arrived and, as far as we could tell, there were still 9 eggs. Sadly, the image from the camera was practically useless, so it looked as if it was on its last legs...

At 6:30AM on Friday 8th May, there were two hatchlings and both parents were becoming accustomed to their wide begging gapes. By 7AM, a third chick had hatched from its egg and Wriggly promptly ate the eggshell, replenishing the calcium she had used in producing the eggs in the first place. That evening, there were just 3 eggs remaining and 6 chicks being fed by both parents.

On Saturday morning, we obtained our first glimpse of the nest when the female left the nest box for a couple of minutes, revealing a seventh chick and two remaining eggs. Both parents were feeding the chicks now. The male brought the food most of the time, possibly averaging about 10-20 feeds an hour. Meanwhile, Wriggly tended to her brood with loving care, leaving only occasionally for a break, but then usually returning with a morsel of food for the chicks.

Messy nest (26 April)	Neat nest (3 May)
Wriggly still incubating (7 May)	Proud parents with first two chicks (8 May)
Three chicks but only two visible (8 May)	One of the first feeds (8 May)
Six chicks in the evening (8 May)	Early morning, seven chicks (9 May)