Not to be, this season ..

22nd May 2016

Sadly, as we suspected right from the off, this season has not ended well. 

The brood was reduced to just the one early last week, and for a couple of days it seemed that Betty may just have been able to raise the solitary chick.

However, I don't know if it was simply the lack of available food, or just her inexperience, but the last chick also succumbed on Friday morning ..

So, a short and not so sweet ending to this year's activities.

I am having to re-site the nestbox over the summer, so fingers crossed that someone finds it and occupies it next year.

So, I'll sign off for this year, have a great summer, and hopefully we'll have more luck next year.

16th May 2016

Well, unfortunately as expected, the weekend brought sad developments. Betty is trying her darnedest to raise her brood, but the odds are really against her.
From the 6 chicks we last saw, one by one the brood quickly got smaller and unfortunately only 2 now remain.
I keep hoping that this in itself, is a positive thing and a blessing in disguise, in that she may be able to find enough food on her own, to successfully feed and raise these two.

Last 5 ..

Last 3 ..

The remaining duo are probably a few days behind their normal development, but you can see their wings and first feathers forming.

I guess all we can do is keep our fingers crossed, and hope that Betty can continue to find enough meals to help sustain the strength of this intrepid duo !

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PS. I am led to believe that some of you are unable to access the blog videos via the Facebook posts. If you are having issues, please try this direct link : Blue Tits 2016 

12th May 2016

Well, I must admit I really didn't think that I would be reporting positive news a few days on, but, against all the odds, Betty is making a remarkable fist of things. 

As you can see, just 5 days on, the surviving 6 chicks have quickly doubled in size, and, at the moment, seem none the worse for having just the single food supplier !!

Despite me tempting Betty with various tit bits around the garden, she seems to be doing things her own way, and not taking the easy meal option, but foraging amidst the flora and fauna, as she is no doubt programmed to do ...

Here we can see her returning with a massive caterpillar for breakfast, which one chick decides he can swallow whole !!

The sheer number of foraging forays she is making throughout the day is quite phenomenal, and for this fact alone, she so deserves to succeed in her quest. Here's hoping ...

Here we can see Betty looking rightly proud of her growing and boisterous brood :

I look forward to posting more positive news at the weekend ... Go Betty !!

10th May 2016

Well, I am sad to report that 3 days on, Billy is nowhere to be seen ...
However, as ever, mom Betty is soldiering on, doing everything in her power to raise her brood. As far as I can see, the 2 remaining eggs remain un-hatched.
Of the original 8 chicks, I am unsure of exactly how many are still going strong. 

As you can see for yourselves, it is always easy to count 6 energetic and hungry beaks, but are they always the same 6 ??

Betty is in and out every few seconds ... I keep thinking that she is returning empty handed, but looking at the size of the chicks after only 3 days, she must be doing something right ! It always astounds me as to how quickly the chicks grow.

So, all we can do is hope that she can keep up with the feeding, and that her hard work is rewarded.

8th May 2016 ..

... and so the the saga begins once more !!

We have news !! Some happy ... some potentially not so ....

I am happy to report that on Saturday morning (7/5/16), Billy & Betty welcomed 6 new hatchlings into the world.

Here is chick number 1 :

By teatime, 5 more chicks were born :

After checking again this morning, 2 more appear to have hatched, leaving just 2 eggs still to hatch.

Here we have the whole brood of 8 hatchlings :

Going on previous years, the non hatching of some eggs is not so unusual, however, further observations may well deem the non hatchings this year, as a blessing in disguise. 

Why do I say this ? Well, the not so happy news, is that Billy seems to have gone awol ! Hopefully, he's just out on the town with the lads, celebrating his fatherhood ! But in the meantime, Betty is having to contend with finding food for 8 hungry mouths, on her own !!

We have already seen in past years, that sometimes single parenthood doesn't pan out too well, so, fingers crossed that Billy returns to help out ...

In the meantime, I  have scattered various tasty treats around the garden, let's hope Betty manages to find them ..

So, it seems that once again we may be in for a rocky ride (sorry Linda!) .. 

Fingers crossed that Betty prevails...

2nd May 2016

Well here we are again, another winter over (although it must have come as quite a shock to all prospective new parents, to be be confronted with a downpour of the white stuff only last week!) .. However, it doesn't seem to have put them off ... This year, I am pleased to announce that Billy & Betty have set up home in the nestbox, and hopefully they will attempt to raise a new brood of Blue Tits ...

Here we can see the pair for the first time :

Inclement weather or not .. We can see that Betty has been a busy girl, and has produced a clutch of 10 eggs ... Let's hope that the recent cold weather hasn't affected them ..

I've only today switched on the cam, so not entirely sure when the eggs are due to hatch, but the cam will be on continuously now, so I will update with any developments.

Let's hope for a successful outcome ...