WILDLIFE CAN BE SO CRUEL

After nearly two weeks of hearing the blue tit chicks chirping whenever the parents brought food to them, yesterday is all went quiet apart from one single chick, who seemed to be calling  for its parents.

Suddenly there was no sign of the parents and my concern grew this morning when silence greeted the mealworm breakfast I’ve been leaving out for the local birds to help with parenting.

Robins, house sparrows, blue tits and great tits have been making use of the mealworm donation.

Mid-morning I opened the nest box, confident the parents had left the nest for good, and was saddened by what greeted me.

A couple of days ago I’d noticed a couple of flies entering the nest and wondered if one of the chicks had died.

Unfortunately when I opened the nest box there was five chicks that had died, a couple seemed close to fledging while others seemed to have been slightly younger when they died.

As to the reasons for them dying it remains unsolved; I suspect four reasons.

1 – One or both parents were predated, although I think this unlikely as they were around yesterday and it’s rare to see a sparrowhawk in the local vicinity.

2 – Disease took hold and the chicks sadly succumbed over time.

3 – The parents didn’t bring in enough food, which again seems unlikely given the mealworm supplements.

4 – The parents fledged a couple of chicks but the others were too far behind and the parents left with the few older ones.

I guess it’ll remained unsolved, but it’s the first time a nest has failed this much.

While carrying out the nest investigations I could hear a couple of buzzards circling above, soaring on the thermals and not a crow or rook harassing them.

The robin nest, in the previous wren nest box, appears to be viable, although I remain sceptical there will be successful hatching of this nest

Perhaps they’ll surprise me, although what is surprising is the house sparrows who are paying close attention to the triple nest box, again I don’t think they have nested there this year, but could be wrong.

Finally the swallows seem to be on eggs, while the blackbird nest hasn’t had any sign of chicks being fed – maybe next week.

FIRST STORM OF THE WINTER, BUT NO SNOW

The first winter storm didn’t hit as hard as was predicted in the garden, though I know it was particularly vicious across Scotland.

Although it has been followed by colder weather, the predicted snow didn’t materialise for the wildlife around the house, though it is quite rare to see here.

Birds of prey have been seen with increased regularity in recent weeks, in the form of buzzards and a kestrel. The latter even landed on a neighbour’s window ledge while it scoured the gardens for a meal. It didn’t appear to be successful, but it shows how more birds are using gardens for a source of food.

Even the buzzards, I know there is more than one as I’ve seen two within sight of the garden at once, are flying low over the gardens almost daily. A few years ago one even landed in the garden!

The great spotted woodpecker has also been back a few times in the last week, while a couple of jays have also been spotted regularly and the long tailed tits are now using the garden as a ‘winter stop off’ for food. I know it’s cold and there’s a lack of food when they come into the garden

Obviously those three aren’t as regular as the daily visitors – blue tits, great tits, blackbirds, wrens, robins, dunnocks, house sparrows and tree sparrows.

I’ve seen goldfinches up and down the lane recently, but not yet in the garden.

With colder temperatures set to continue, despite a potential brief ‘warmer’ spell in midweek, I expect I’ll have to fill the bird feeders with increased frequency.

Snow anyone?

THE SAD RESULTS OF APRIL WEATHER

Despite the weather turning in to summer after a cold and wet six weeks, it has led to a rather sad ending to my nestbox camera story.

The images below aren't the easiest to view but it reflects what happens in nature every day, month and year.

I had noticed that the great tits were not around very much for the last week or so, despite me recently seeing one of the parents going in to the nestbox with a caterpillar in beak.

After hearing the story of a friend who had watched from their nestbox camera as eight great tit chicks straved to death during April and early May, I resolved to check the nestbox after watching for parental activity over the weekend.

With little or no great tit activity anywhere near the nestbox, I opened it up and found the eight tiny fledglings hadn't made it passed a couple of days old.

The unusually cool and wet weather had obviously led to a lack of relevant food for the chicks and their sad demise. I presume this has happened to many great tit and other small bird families across the UK, which makes me wonder if this breeding season will be a poor one.

In positive news I've noticed a blue tit nest in a tiny crevice in the wall of a small disused building at the back of our house. The crevice is so tight the parents have to literally squeeze out each time they have fed their chicks.

I think they'll fledge in the next week as they're very vocal when the parents bring food.

The robins have not been seen for a while, which makes me think the chicks are all out and the family has gone off to explore the countryside.

Activity has been frantic from the house and tree sparrows, as they spend lots of time in the rose hedge and the garden borders. I'm still unsure where they're nesting, but it must be close.

The blackbirds are still around and this week have been dominating the airwaves, especially at dusk, as the males use prominent spots like telegraph poles to littering the wind with lovely song.

It certainly makes a change from the constant chiffchaff tunes during the day.

Finally an unusual visitor came to the garden this week, a great spotted woodpecker, although he didn't stay around too long. Perhaps he'll be back.

More news this weekend.

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.