Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Only tits, but some surprises.

There's a Great Tit pair nesting on the ground a few metres form my kitchen, down inside a couple of hollow concrete blocks. I feared they were feeding the young on bombay mix some idiot had put on a bird table nearby. When I looked with the bins they were dried mealworms!
Other food they bring looks like seeds, etc. though, which doesn't seem a good idea.

The Blue Tits even nearer the window, by contrast, are bringing fat green caterpillars to their 8 young up till 9.15 pm. Their box I made by hollowing out the top of a tall stump of a pine I had to cut down as it was lashing the windows upstairs. It's been used a couple or three years now, so is a bit soft. A woodpecker has been having a go at getting the young. It got some of the nest material out this morning, so I split a black plant pot and wired it round the damaged part. The adults accepted it emmediately, continuing to feed without hesitation. I know the woodpecker has to feed, but I felt guilty giving the tits an insecure box.

Another box down the garden has just 2 well-grown Blue Tit chicks in it, sitting on a pile of unhatched eggs!

3 comments:

Nick Carter said...

Nothing wrong with Tits

Jeff Cox said...

I haven't got any tits nesting in my garden Steve so you're lucky you have so many to choose from to watch each day.

David Sutcliffe said...

Poor response around me this year Steve. 3 regular sites for Blue Tits are deserted