FEEDING FRENZY

The great tit chicks are growing fast, as all eight are being fed at regular intervals by both parents with all sorts of food.

I put a few mealworms out this evening and the great tits, robins and blackbirds were on them within seconds of me putting them out.

The first great tit chick had eaten a mealworm less than a minute later, although one parent still found other food while the other swooped on the mealworm feast.

Below is a two minute video showing some of the feeding action this evening.

What amazes me about the footage was the way the chicks ate the food, then upturned themselves to 'deliver' the parent feeder, a fecal sac; the parent also waiting until the sac appears.

They are still blind and just 4.5 days old, but possibly only another 10 days from leaving the nest!

But tonight they'll be sleeping covered and kept warm by the female.

POOP & SCOOP

The great tit chicks are growing by the hour as their parents bring them hoards of insects, caterpillars and other small creepy crawlies.

I've watched as various green caterpillars are brought in to the chicks, along with the mealworms I'm supplying in small numbers.

The female is very meticulous about cleaning the nest, spending minutes at a time shifting the chicks about and removing an parasites or unwanted dirt. The video was recorded while my own daughter was having a tantrum so please excuse the audio!

I'm learning so much about the activity inside a used nestbox, including about how old the chicks are before they allow the parents to remove their poo sacs from the nest.

I watched one chick being fed today, then immediately turning upside down and showing a fecal sac for the parent to take away. This is even more remarkable as the chicks are still blind.

The warm and wet weather is good in many ways for the chicks, although the parents are sometimes looking a little wet.

I'm hoping there's enough food to feed the chicks as the battle is on for survival.

The frog is still occupying an ever decreasing pond, although the rain so far this weekend is filling it up a little bit.

The swallows are in full voice, while the blackbirds are feeding the newly fledged chicks and I'm trying to find out exactly where the robin and dunnock parents have nested and are feeding their chicks.

With the feeding of chicks season well underway, a witnessed a dunnock chasing a blackbird off a mealworm.

A fun time for wildlife fans, but nerve wracking for parents and those who watch the youngsters struggle for survival.