BLUE TITS (34)

This morning is the first morning we could have realistically expected any eggs to have hatched. I can't see in the box, and cannot hear any peeping (how long do Blue Tit hatchlings take to find their voices anyway?) so I cannot tell if any eggs have hatched yet.

One thing that should be noted though, is that for the first time in a day or so, we saw the male bring food to the box, every 2 minutes or so whilst we were there, watching. What a state he looks in!
You might remember that when the female started incubating, 12 days ago, I remarked then that I expected the male to suffer a bit in the next 10 days, and lose some feathers from his head - as he fed himself and the female.

He has certainly lost a lot of feathers from his head, and almost looks as though he has a wet head - he's looking very bedraggled indeed!
We are not sure why though. Sure, we are at work most of the day, in my case, every day, so we haven't seen all his comings and goings. But from what we HAVE seen, I think its the female who has been to-ing and fro-ing in and out of the box, more than the male! In fact, I haven't seen much of the male over the last 2 days. Anna and I think he may just have another female in a Nest Box on the go - the little tart.

I'll watch the Box this evening for any chick activity and keep "Blue-Grey" informed... and I'll try and get some photos of the parents bringing food to the Box soon , now that it ( the Box) is getting more sunlight during the day - should make for better, clearer, sharper photos. Watch this space...


As for avian activity around the garden - the Swifts have stuck around over the street ( see Swifts (2) post), the female Sparrowhawk was catching thermals last evening, quite low, near the garden, a lovely hen Blackbird hops around our lawn every evening after I've watered it, pulling out wee beasties and our pair of very sleek-looking Great Tits have FINALLY been inspecting our Thistle Seed Feeder at the end of the garden. Not sure if they're that keen on these Egyptian Thistle seeds (at this time of the year) though...