There we have it folks.
It's fair to say Anna and I are genuinely really quite upset that our little feathered family have departed. Neither of us have seen hide nor hair (feather) of the little niblets since they flew the nest, and we haven't even be visited by Scargill and Anne since this morning, even though we've put out some more Waxworms and Mealworms for them....
It's important to remember at this point, that whilst I guess it's natural to feel like this at the moment, after all, they've been a big part of our lives for OVER TWO MONTHS now, in reality these are wild animals still, and they haven't been part of our lives as such, more like We've been incredibly priviledged to witness at very close-quarters, a part of their lives.
Over two months of courtship, mating, nestbuilding, laying, incubation, rearing and fledging. And now nothing.
Its amazing to consider really, that only 19 days ago, the chicks were blind, naked, helpless, and not much bigger than the size of a penny. Now thay are fully independent birds, with strong flight muscles, good feathers and eyesight and almost as big as their parents.
It will be another month before they lose their juvenile coat of yellow face feathers with a dull green cap, taking on the white face and blue cap of an adult bird. (NB. Adult Blue Tits almost see with ultra violet vision - they appear to have "Blue Halos" to each other, around their heads).
They then will be fully fledged adult Blue Tits and will have to cope with all that the world throws at them. Thay will have to survive their first winter and find a territory and mate of their own, to breed for themselves, next year. Their chances of surviving one year are not high - only about a third of young Blue Tits survive their first year. I think our strong little niblets will be ok though!
I don't know how old Scargill and Anne are either, or how long they will live for (especially the bald Scargill, who has no waterproofing on his head). I suppose it is feasible that they could die this winter (most adult Blue Tits don't make it past a third year), and one of their offspring could return next year to breed in the box that they were themselves born in?! But this is all speculation - the chances are Anna and I won't even be living here next year...
These two penultimate photos are of Scargill (I really hope he gets his head feathers back) and Anne (she's looking a bit scrappy also now), are for me and Anna really. (The last photos in the next post, post 62, will be nest related). I took them this morning, after all the chicks had gone, and the two parents were busy feeding themselves. I did notice them fly up to the huge Lime Tree close to the house a few times - maybe, just maybe, there were some chicks up there that still wanted a bit of parental attention?!
The final post (62) and photos (not yet taken) will take the form of a little resume of our time with our Blue Tits, a tabular diary of what happened and when, (for my records I suppose - comparisons for future years etc... (I'm still quite chuffed I predicted the date of fledging EXACTLY right!)) and photos of me and Anna taking down the empty box. We will leave that until Bank Holiday Monday, just to make sure no Tits are roosting in it at night, though I'm almost certain that won't be happening now. I'm not sure what we'll find in the box - with any luck, no undeveloped eggs or small corpses, just a lot of flattened moss and feathers!
We still don't know how mant chicks were raised, I'll guess at SIX. What we DO know with certainty however, is that Scargill and Anne, against all odds (especially Scargill, poor fella), bi-polar weather conditions, marauding Magpies and Sparrowhawks, Spostles and midges have been quite the most precocious, successful Blue Tit family I've seen on any British website this year. Anna and I should (we have!) given ourselves a big pat on the back too, for undoubtedly helping the parents with our constant supply of food.
We desperately hope they come back and visit us soon. The garden just isn't the same without them, but as it stands, the next post on our tits will be BLUE TITS (62) and that will be the final post. Of course, should they visit us in the future, I may give them a little mention!
For now though, until we take the nest box down to clean it out, I leave you with the final two pictures of the best Blue Tit parents in Britain...
Thanks for reading about our amazing time with these incredible little birds.
SCARGILLANNE
Congratulations guys. Good job!
We have AMAZING TITS!
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