GARDEN UPDATE

It's been a while since I posted about my blue tits, mainly because after they had fledged I felt somewhat low that their time with me in the garden was limited.

I've also been on holiday; which helped me get over the fledging.

But recently I've been pleased to notice the family of blue tits has returned to feed in the garden from the peanut feeders.

They've been joined by other families including one or two of great tits, robins, dunnocks and blackbirds.

The garden has bloomed recently with three of my sunflowers (grown from seed) now standing at over 7ft. The aphids on some of the roses and other flowers have no been eaten by the birds and insects, including in the last few days, a number of ladybirds.
I've recently been building a small patio area and during the groundwork one of the local robin families introduced me to the youngsters.

They've been around ever since, feasting on the regular amount of worms appearing on the lawn because of the wet weather.

I also spotted a young rabbit in the garden, it seemed a bit lost as no parents were around and I'm a little concerned it might not survive with buzzards and foxes about.

The pond is coming along nicely and is now full of wildlife. The latest animal I've spotted is a water boatman.

I'll be writing regular posts now so stay tuned. In my next post I'll be talking about the tomato and dwarf runner bean plants I've grown from seed and also and update on the patio.

COMING BACK?

Parents return to feed

It's been a few days since my last blog and thanks to Chelsea and the hot warm weather, I've not felt like doing much. Yes I'm an Everton fan!

I really feel for the chicks I've been watching on Springwatch and don't blame them for fledging early just to get out of their stuffy nests.

A little surprise visitor came to one of the mealworm feeders overs the weekend - one of the parent blue tits. I recognised it from it's scruffy appearance and the way it fed from the feeder and where it flew to devour the mealworm(s).

I think it was still feeding the chicks as it went off to the trees on occasions with mealworms in its mouth.

Other activity in my garden has been the first (seen) visit of a jay, a wonderfuly coloured bird with a bit a magpie-esque streak to it.

The swallows have been mating on the telephone wires and I expect eggs have now been laid and youngsters will be soon begging constantly for food.

The tree sparrows appear to have settled their differences and paired up for the breeding season.

I've seen glimpses of the dunnocks with their chicks hoovering up bugs and flies on the garden edges while the female blackbirds must be on eggs, due their conspicuous absence.

The garden and its inhabitants have sprung in to life and I'm looking forward to watching the different species bring up their young over the next few months.

I'm still working on the video footage but here's some memories of the blue tits for now.

THEY'VE FLEDGED THE NEST

A fully-fledged family

Like any proud parents the blue tits rightly proclaimed the emergence of five chicks after nearly three weeks in the nestbox.

I too felt proud of being able to provide the parents with extra food and, above all, a safe place to bring up their brood.

It's sad to see them go and I'll miss the daily alarm calls from the parents and the chattering of the chicks in the nest, but the next journey of their lives is now solely with mum and dad, and the big wide world.

I'm putting together a video of their nestbox lives which will be up over the weekend.

While filming the baby blue tits in the canopy of the tress (see video below) , waiting for the parents to bring them food, I also 'bumped' in to one of the local robin pairs. They too were introducing their chicks to the outside world and I'm confident of seeing more of them in the coming weeks.

Another set of parents with newly-fledged chicks is the dunnocks. The youngsters are seen foraging around the undergrowth, in much the same way their parents do. They too should stick around for a little bit.

The swallows are now loving the warm weather and can be seen all day scything through the air, grabbing mouthfuls of insects. They can mainly be seen around the house at dawn and dusk.

The blackbird chicks must have hatched as the mother has been seen today looking for food.

Back to the blue tits and the parents were looking rather tired and haggard, with their moult starting to take place.

They will now stay away from the spotlight and not emerge until they have grown a new set of feathers.

So a bitter-sweet morning for me as the blue tit chicks appeared to wait until I'd seen them before flying off to explore the area with their parents.

It's sad to see them go, but also a happy moment as they will hopefully come back later on in the year and rely on handouts during the cold winter months.

The next year one or more pairs will set up home again in my garden; this time I'll be ready with at least one camera nestbox.

I'll be continuing to feed mealworms to the birds and fill up the peanut feeders again. Fingers crossed I get some unusual visitors - a cuckoo, greater-spotted woodpecker or even a goldfinch.

Must also add that this year's Springwatch is very good so far!

QUIET EVENING

Have the chicks fledged?

Not very much action tonight from the blue tit nestbox, leaving me to consider the fact I have missed the chicks fledging.

If I have I can rest assured I have helped provide a safe nest site and regular food handouts for my second blue tit family in two years.

I hope the parents or maybe a youngster and his/her new partner will return next year and occupy my new camera nestbox (yet to be purchased).

Of a late spring evening it's a joy to watch the swallows swoop, glide and perform unbelievable high speed twists and turns, all while catching insects.

I'm hoping the female(s) is/are on eggs as there did seem to be less birds around this evening. That could be put down to the rainy weather.

The video below is of a lone swallow from the weekend when the weather was a little better. A very graceful bird and probably my favourite.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Blue tit chicks are refusing to move out

Many people say 'there's no place like home', and that's exactly what the blue tit chicks must be thinking.

I'm expecting them to fledge any day now, but with a wet and windy day tomorrow I suspect it'll be Thursday at the earliest when then experience the world outside the nestbox.

I've discovered tonight, big thanks to Neil, I have a programme to edit video clips. I've spent some time brushing up my old editorial skills and should have some great footage for you from tomorrow.

The chicks are sounding bigger and bigger each day and I hope they hold on until at least Saturday before fledging.

I'll be putting a fuller report tomorrow evening when I hope the video footage will give a good showing of the wildlife around my garden.

Including in the footage wild be, blue tits, blackbirds, tufted ducks and swallows.

I'll leave you today with footage of one of the local male blackbirds singing away the evening.

BANK HOLIDAY BONANZA

Barbeque feeding session

What a weekend, well at least weather wise! Summer is officially here and as my partner, Sarah, planted the hanging baskets and window boxes, I was busy making sure the blue tits weren't going to fledge without me noticing.

While it was an interesting experience, it proved that wildlife doesn't confirm to human activity and won't rush along a fledging just to coincide with a bank holiday.

What I did learn was that blue tits are great parents, ignoring all manner of activity in the garden to continue providing food for their chicks in the nestbox.

As Sarah planted out the baskets, right underneath the nestbox, the blue tits made the initial alarm calls before realising she meant no harm and continued to feed the ever-louder chicks.

Even when we had a bbq for the neighbours and ate at a table underneath the nestbox, the parents continued to feed the chicks and inadvertently provide a small garden spectacular for me, Sarah and our guests.

I did help the viewing by handing out mealworms, but Neil and Fiona, Holly and Jonny, along with Andy, Sarah and me, watched in awe as the blue tit parents continued to feed the chicks.

Tomorrow I'll be putting up video footage, provided by Neil and Fiona's camera, of various wildlife activities, including that of the ducks and swallows.

Back to the blue tit chicks and I'm confident they will fledge this week, unfortunately I think I'll miss the fledging - unless they hold off until the weekend!

The wonderful weather coincided with the return of Springwatch. I thoroughly enjoyed the first programme and hope it continues to provide amateurs like me notes on how to provide a good habitat for all wildlife and watch them without disturbance.

Lots of footage tomorrow including that of a make blackbird's evening song.

DEMANDING CHICKS

Mealworm, caterpillar, mealworm

No cuckoo sounds so far this weekend, but we're only half way through it so plenty of time to go!

Spent a lot of time in the garden yesterday planting out baskets, mowing and putting sunflowers around the borders. Fingers crossed they bloom and attract seed hunters later in the year.

As for the blue tits, they seem to be getting along quite well with a constant supply of food from the parents. Be it a mealworm or two, courtesy of me, caterpillars or other delicious grubs.

I was hopeful the chicks would fledge this weekend, but it seems it could be midweek, when I won't be able to view the spectacle.

Next door have introduced some feeder to the garden and this has attracted the local birds. I'm confident with plenty of shelter, wild food, nestboxes and human-presented food the local bird population will continue to grow and stay around for years.

Some of course will fly away to warmer climes for the winter, which includes the beautiful swallows. They treated us to a spectacular aerobatic display yesterday morning and evening as they competed for food and nesting areas.

They've obviously chosen the same building as last year, the year before and probably for many years before. I'm aiming to get footage of their display today and put them on my next blog.

I know they're nesting because I saw, on a number of occasions yesterday, one on the floor collecting materials for a nest.

I'm looking forward to the newly hatched chicks fledging and learning their aerobatic skills in August, before sadly gathering on the telephone wires in September and going off on their winter holidays until April.

I can see them outside the window now so fingers crossed I get some good footage.

Of the other birds, the blackbirds seem t be on eggs, as the male is the only one seen at the moment. I gather the mating I witnessed early on Thursday may have been successful.

The robins must be showing their chicks around the local neighbourhood, although I get the feeling another pair is 'operating' in the area and could be on eggs.

The tree sparrows appear to be pairing up for mating and the great tits must have chicks they are feeding frequently.

The dunnocks appear to be feeding fledglings but as usual with new families, they disperse after fledgings and take a tour of the area as the parents moult.

I'll publish a full list of the regular wildlife in my garden in the next post.

Oh finally, I was treated to a display from swifts last night, amazing aerial skills and squeaking. I don't think they're nesting too close to the garden, but I think I will see them a lot more during the summer evenings.

And I'm really looking forward to Springwatch starting tomorrow!

CUCKOO, CUCKOO

A new sound to the airwaves

A morning feed of mealworms for the local birds was in sunshine today, the first time for a while. As usual the blue tit parents were the first to appear and gratefully nipped in to take up to three mealworms to the ever-growing chicks.

A sunnier and warmer day seemed to put the chicks in to vocal overdrive as I could clearly hear them even before getting out of the car when I arrived home tonight.

As I was chatting to the neighbours and filling up the feeders with mealworms, a familiar sound came through the airwaves - cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo.

A clearly audible cuckoo was casting his voice near the house. One of the birds they usually 'ask' to foster their chick is the dunnock and we have plenty of them in the hedges and bushes around the garden.

I suspect one set of dunnock parents may be bringing up a cuckoo chick over the coming months, with or without their permission. I'll update any further sounds from the cuckoo when heard.

I spent some time this evening filming the blue tits, one of the videos you can see below. The warning call and the sound of the chicks can clearly be heard, so turn up the sound!



The parents are now looking a little dishevelled and will no doubt be thankful when chicks fledge and start fending for themselves.

That process may be another couple of weeks away, so I'll continue to feed small amounts of mealworms each day until the summer.

One more sight from this morning, which greeted me as I set off for work, was a mating pair of blackbirds. They will surely be on eggs soon and then feeding chicks in a few weeks; no doubt be glad of the mealworms I provide.

More updates over the bank holiday weekend and, with sunny and warm(ish) weather promised I hope to have video and photographic evidence of more local wildlife.

BLUE TITS SINGING IN THE RAIN

The chicks are getting louder

This morning I glimpsed the sun through the many clouds and wondered if the weather would be good for once and help the growing blue tit chicks.

I needn't have worried - when I arrived home it rained and rained and rained!

My usual morning feed was gone within minutes and this evening the feed was noticed in seconds (as usual) despite the constant heavy rain. I gave the feeders a little more both times in the hope the parents would take a few for themselves and keep the chicks warm through the night.

As I watch the birds visiting my garden my mind wanders to the pond behind the house, and the mallard duckings.

I see them every morning and evening as I drive to and from work since I noticed their presence. They seem to be progressing well and according to research I heard today, they must be loving the rain!

There seems to be two pairs of tufted ducks in the pond and this weekend I'm going to find out if they're both nesting and on eggs. Fingers crossed for some positive news.

Back to the blue tits. The chicks seem to be doing well and the squawking gets higher, during feeding, every day. I'm not sure exactly how many chicks are in the nestbox (I'll be getting a camera nestbox for next season!), but I aim to count them as they leave the nest.

FEEDING HABITS

Trust takes time with wildlife

As the days pass and the blue tit chicks, along with other local youngsters, grow bigger, stronger and louder, I've been amazed at the level of trust building between me and the parent blue tits.

When I first noticed they were looking at the nest again, after a successful breeding season in 2008, I was greeted by warning calls from both birds whenever I was in the garden.

But as time has passed and since the chicks have hatched the parents have become very bold around me. The male still has the occasional chirp of an alarm call, but the female seems quite content with me presence.

This video shows how bold they have become, clearly ignoring me as they feed their young.



I've put this down to them seeing me regularly (twice a day) putting out mealworms for them to feed their young. The boldness of the blue tits is now showing in the other birds, with the dunnocks, great tits, blackbirds and tree sparrows allowing me to be closer and closer to them.

The behaviour of the robins has always been bold but they seem to have deserted the feeding stations in my garden over the last few days. I'm hoping it's because they are giving their fledglings a tour of the local fields, hedges and feeding hotspots.

Some more successful news from the pond behind my house. The mallards have been showing off 5 young over the weekend. I'm hopng to get images of the family over the bank holiday weekend - if the weather allows!
The pond is also home to a pair of tufted ducks and I suspect they are on eggs now. I'll update the news on them in the next few days.

My small pond is still full of life, with a few tadpoles growing and the plants and insects showing signs of a vibrant, if small, habitat.

Enjoy the video and I'll have more as the week goes by.

A WET WEEKEND

Feeding frenzy

The wet weekend weather hasn't put a dampener on the instincts of the blue tit parents, with both regularly queuing up to enter the nestbox with various food items for their chicks.

The chicks are now just over a week old and are squawking each time a parent enters the nestbox. They should fledge over bank holiday weekend and I hope to capture the moment.

I'm helping them out with small amounts of mealworms in the morning and evening, but the other local resident birds are quick to realise the offerings I regularly give out.
In fact I can almost hear the birds as they get excited in the trees and bushes and start chattering among themselves that I've filled the feeders with mealworms!

The tree sparrows seem to have given up their attempts at a coup. The fierce defensive tactics of the blue tit parents and internal squabbling has knocked the steam out of them.

I'm hopeful the blue tit parents are becoming used to my presence as they seem to tolerate me being much closer to the feeding stations and nestbox. They rarely use the alarm call even though I was in the garden for quite a long time on Saturday.

The dunnocks and great tits are still regularly feeding in the garden, with both seemingly feeding chicks still - some on the ground and some in the nest.

The robins have spent less time in the garden which points to a glut of food elsewhere taking their attention.

There does seem to be plenty of food about. I watched the blue tits this morning return to the nestbox every two minutes with food for the chicks.

Two of the local male blackbirds are constantly singing at regular times during the day at various posts. They even manage to have a contest against me when I'm whistling.

I hope the wet weather stops soon as this is preventing the mesmeric sight of the local swallows whizzing through the air feeding and collecting materials for their nests.

It also seems to be responsible for many of the other birds 'hiding' away in the trees and bushes, rarely coming out for me to see them.

Just as I write this the sun begins to shine again and I'm going to go out and try to get some close photos of the blue tit parents and other adult small birds.

Pics will be added later, if the sun keeps shining!

MORNING UPDATE

A wet feeding session

When the overnight rain turned torrential in the early hours I feared for the parent blue tits and their ability to provide enough food for their chicks and keep them warm in the nest.

I needn't have worried as the first thing I saw when getting my breakfast at 6.30am was both parents flying in to the nestbox with grubs to feed the young. They looked a little dishevelled but the site of them both feeding put my mind at rest.

While looking around the garden I also noticed my second fledgling of the season. A parent dunnock was being harrassed by a chick down by the pond.

A welcoming sight, especially given I'd witnessed a pair of dunnocks flying to and from my mealworm handout over the last 10 days.

The nest is somewhere near the small stream that borders our small group of houses.

Looking forward to a drier weekend and a drier evening so I can update the progress of all my garden's wildlife.

NO NEWS - IS GOOD NEWS?

A wet evening

Returning home tonight to a wet and dreary outlook, there wasn't much birdlife about. I expect the blue tits, great tits, blackbirds, dunnocks, tree sparrows and robins, amongst others, to be sheltering in the trees and bushes.

A lone male blackbird did post a late evening song from a nearby telegraph pole, but he appeared to be singing to an empty stadium.

Even the swallows were not about, presumably not many insects to be caught on the wing in the late wet evening. Perhaps they're brooding on eggs, fingers crossed we'll see a family learning the tricks of catching insects in mid-air later this summer.

Not much activity from the blue tit family, even when an offering of mealworms was presented. I hope the parents were taking turns in keeping the chicks warm in the cool, wet May weather.

So feeding was kept to a minimum, well any feeding that I noticed, but I hope tomorrow will bring better weather and some visible news from the blue tit family.

More tomorrow on the blue tits and the rest of the wildlife in my garden.

A COUP - AND NOT A DOVE IN SIGHT

Tree sparrows attempt nestbox coup

After a breakfast feeding of mealworms all seemed well with my blue tit family until a sinister side of bird life reared its ugly head.

Today has been developing in to a potentially devastating one for the blue tit family, in particular the blue tit chicks.

A pair of tree sparrows appear to have taken a liking to their nestbox and have been inspecting the entrance and generally hanging around outside it.

They constantly chirp away making their presence easy to detect, especially as working from home today I sit just the other side of the wall to the blue tit nestbox.

I've seen the blue tit parents chase of the tree sparrows on a number of occasions and it seems to have done the trick, but tree sparrows have been known to regularly take over another nest, regardless of the situation.

In some cases they build their nest ON TOP of the existing one, even if it has chicks or eggs inside.

So the day ended with my usual late evening meal, though I got a little wet this evening.

All seems to have returned to normal as I post, but rest assured I'll be checking on their progress throughout the weekend, as I'll be spending lots of time in the garden.

More pics soon.

DINNER IS SERVED

Mealworms before bedtime

To help the blue tit parents give their chicks a decent evening meal I supplied a few mealworms.

Ok I had another motive in that I wanted to teach the parents I wasn't a threat and indeed it was me providing the meals. I hoped this would give me the opportunities to take some close pictures.

As you should be able to see from the images in this entry I succeeded to a certain extent.

Within seconds of me putting the mealworms in feeding stations in my garden the blue tit parents, along with a pair of great tits, a robin and a pair of dunnocks, tucked in to the feast.

I didn't see them once eat a mealworm for themselves, but I hope a few extra ones will help keep them healthy during this exhaustive time.

I'm not hearing the chicks yet but I hope to have some audio evidence by the weekend.

Anyway enjoy the images and I'll be back with more updates tomorrow.

FEEDING UPDATE

Taking pictures

After crouching by the window trying to get images of the parents entering the nestbox to feed the youngsters I’ve had to make do with the current images you can see in this post and the previous one. (this is of a robin picking a mealworm off the ground)

The mealworm feast I’m providing is feeding not only the blue tits, but also blackbirds, robins, dunnocks and great tits.

I believe, judging by the behaviour of the robins, dunnocks and great tits, they all have nests with young in nearby. This weekend I intend to establish exact locations and, if possible, provide images of their ‘homes’.

I will of course not jeopardise the health of chicks or adults during this exercise.

As for the blue tit chicks, I’ve not really heard them yet while they’re being fed, but expect to hear something by the end of this week.

It’s at this point that I regret not putting up a camera nestbox, though this was decided for me when in February the adults blue tits were using the nestbox as a roosting station.

I will however put one up in late autumn when I clear out the current nestbox ready for next year.

BREAKING NEWS

Tits give birth (well hatch anyway)

Great news for all followers of this blog. The eggs have hatched this afternoon and the parents are frantically dashing to and from the nestbox with various offerings for the newly-hatched youngsters.

I'm helping a little by providing mini mealworms which they seem to be hoovering up very gratefully.

I'm in the process of taking pictures for you all to see and will upload them whenever it is possible.

In the meantime hold on to your hats, the next few weeks as raising young tits is a difficult business, full of ups and downs.

I'll be helping out with mini mealworms handouts but fingers crossed we'll see some blue tit fledglings in about 3 weeks.

Speaking of fledglings I met a blackbird fledgling this morning while on a bike ride down the country lanes by the house. In a fluster it clung to the outside of a hawthorn hedge by the side of the lane and we both looked at each other in curiosity for about 30 seconds before both carried on our separate ways.

The picture above is one of the parents picking off a mealworm to take it back to the chicks.

Further pictures will be available on my next update.

LATEST NEWS

May 7th

After a spell of warmer weather the paired blue tits were seen mating outside the bird box on a number of occasions.

Since then the birds have turned from a pair to one, presumably the male, who's been singing warning songs everytime I've been in the garden.

The obvious conclusion would be the female sitting on eggs in the nestbox and the male keeping her up-to-date with what's happening outside.

In the last couple of days the male has been seen taking mealworms (supplied by me) into the nextbox without the usual sound of chicks begging for food.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed the female is on eggs and hopefully will hear the sounds of chicks in the next couple of weeks.

Which is a positive of the holiday to Mexico (due to be taken on Saturday) has been cancelled. Fingers crossed all this will lead to me seeing the chicks fledge.

The recent weather hasn't been exactly May-like (my greenhouse has fallen in the winds) but a new batch of mealworms has arrived and I'm ready to help feed any chicks.

Talking of chicks it seems with the variety of birds arriving and taking away beakfuls of mealworms that a number of chicks are in the surrounding buildings and countryside.

Pairs of robins, blackbirds and great tits and indulged in the feast, with goldfinches, tree sparrows and dunnocks utilising either the worm handout or peanuts.

With the odd visit from woodpigeons, house sparrows, chaffinches, pied wagtails, magpies, a greater-spotted woodpecker, wrens and a pair of song thrushes, the garden is full of life.

The usual swallows are performing aerobatic sorties catching flying insects and nesting again in the small barns behind the house, while long-tailed tits have lengthened the time between their family visits.

THEY'RE BACK

After the success of 2008 the blue tits are back and have chosen the same nest box as last year.

Last weekend they were seen mating outside the box and can be heard every morning and evening in the surrounding bushes and trees ready for the day, or bed!

From the beginning:

Christmas 2007 I received a nest box from my girlfriend's parents and after careful research, erected it facing north-east overlooking my garden.

Within weeks a pair of blue tits had shown an interest and after watching them feed on my various stations in the garden I noticed them entering the box.

After a May holiday in Cuba, I returned to find the parents flying regularly in and out with caterpillars and other sumptuous grubs for the chicks.

The chicks were audible in the living room and in early June six fledged and disappeared with the parents into the surrounding countryside.

A successful rearing must have inspired the parents (I presume it’s the parents though I have no way of knowing 100%) to return.

An update will be made over the May Bank Holiday when I’ll be feeding them more mealworms.