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The Blue Tits lived in a nestbox on our garage in spring 2006. Or to be more accurate, they lived in a nestbox poking out of where the garage window used to be before I boarded it up to but a nestbox in there. There's already quite a few websites with mini CCTVs or webcams set up in Blue Tit boxes, but I decided I'd rather get some nice high-res images with my digital camera. So with that in mind, I set up the nest box with a glass side on the inside of the garage. After a lot of buggering about and waiting, two Blue Tits moved in on 1st April.
After about a fortnight of bringing in beakfuls of moss and then taking it out again, the nest looked as though it was still only half-finished by mid April. By the third week though, they had built the nest up to almost half-way to the entrance hole, and the female was roosting in the box every night. During the week or so between the nest being finished and the first egg being laid, there was very little activity around the box, so I wondered if they had given up, but the first egg was laid on 18th, and the clutch of seven eggs was finished on approximately the 24th (although I found an eighth, unhatched egg when I was clearing out the box in July).
Click on the small thumbnails to see the larger images - you can follow their fate over the next three weeks, starting below:
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Saturday May 6th Still little activity - she's still bringing in those bits of green leaves. The male seems to be staying outside the box when he brings her food now, so not much chance for any images of them both together, although I did manage to get her leaping through the hole (more by luck than judgment!) The eggs ought to hatch in the next day or two.
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Monday May 8th DAY 1 Three of the seven eggs have hatched at some point during the day. No photos yet but they're small and pink.
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Wednesday May 10th DAY 3 This morning I couldn't count the chicks as the female was sat on them whilst I was there, but as luck would have it, at five past eight she pulled half an egg-shell out of the nest-cup, ate it and sat back down again (photo three) - I suspect it was the seventh egg hatching. This evening there did appear to be a smaller chick in amongst the wriggling pink and yellow mass! The older chicks are now beginning to give very faint calls - for the first day or two they are inaudible.
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Monday May 15th DAY 8 Not much chance to get many pictures today - all seven chicks are still ok, even the youngest one, which surprised me a little - the adults must be finding enough food for them. For the first time, the calls of the chicks are now just about audible outside the nestbox; I always thought that I would be able to hear them at only a day or two, but I didn't realise just how quiet they'd be in their first week. The oldest chicks' eyes are just beginning to open.
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Saturday May 20th DAY 13 Things have all gone Pete Tong. The female Blue Tit hasn't been seen since yesterday and has almost certainly died, whilst the smallest chick of the remaining six has also died. Although the male Blue Tit is still going about his duties bringing a constant supply of food (mainly caterpillars), it's the female who does the 'looking after' of the chicks; she broods them overnight to keep them warm, and also keeps the nest free of mites and other undesirable creepy-crawlies. Had she gone missing a week ago the chicks would certainly have all died overnight, but evidently the remaining chicks were feathered enough to stay warm. Even so, with overnight temperatures in single figures, and a week still to go until they were/are due to fly, it's uncertain as to how many, if any will survive.
Of the remaining five chicks, the three biggest ones now spend most of their time waiting by the entrance hole for the male to arrive, whilst the smallest chick is not yet big enough to climb out of the nest cup. The fifth remaining chick, although one of the biggest, is looking decidedly peeky and isn't being fed. I wouldn't be surprised if there are less than four by tomorrow.
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Sunday May 21st DAY 14 All the remaining chicks with the exception of one were dead this morning. Despite the strong winds, low temperatures and pissing rain, the male Blue Tit is still managing to find it food, however.
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Monday May 22nd DAY 15 All dead. Bugger.
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