Looking at other Blue Tit related websites, it is becoming apparent that this year is NOT a good year for successful fledging of chicks. Some eggs in boxes aren't hatching, and some hatch but the chicks die just a day or so before getting to fledge.
The main reason behind this seems to be the very 'bi-polar' weather we've had in the last 6 weeks or so. April was too dry (no rain to speak of at all), and May, so far, has been too wet, with rain almost every day. This has led to a shortage of wild food such as green caterpillars at the wrong times for a lot of chicks in other boxes documented on the web.
We don't know how many eggs were laid, how many have hatched (it sounds like AT LEAST 4), or how many will fly the nest.
What we DO know however, is that Scargill and Anne don't seem to have had any problem finding wild green caterpillars for their hungry youngsters, and on top of that, they have had a pretty regular supply of protein-rich Mealworms, and Fat and protein-rich Waxworm caterpillars laid on by us.
More and more now, I feel our efforts to provide this extra food may well have saved unseen, unquantifiable lives inside the box.
Fledging must surely come in the first part of this week. Day 19 out of their shells (if they all hatched on the same day) will come on Wednesday, and day 19 is when they should fledge.
I'm still of the opinion that if this better weather holds, we may see the bravest chicks out of the box just before then...?
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