At the end of term (23rd May) we had a box full of eight healthy 11 day old chicks which were being well fed by their parents. Their eyes were open and their feathers were beginning to show their Blue Tit markings.

eight 10-day old chicks

However, that was all to change when the weather turned very wet and chilly for most of the school holidays! By Tuesday 27th only 4 chicks remained, the adults were struggling to find enough live food and to keep them warm. They didn’t appear to be bringing in any caterpillars, the stable diet of Blue Tit chicks. On Thursday, there was only one surviving chick in the box and although it looked rather alone and cold it was now getting all the food the adults could bring in to itself. On occasion it could be seen jumping up at the hole and stretching its wings. We held our breath to see whether it could survive the night alone in the box, no adult came to brood it. To our relief it was still bright and chirpy in the morning and Dave Carder, one of our regular birdcam watchers, was privileged to see the chick fledge at 12.44 pm. Good luck little chick as you face a new set of challenges!

Read the comments on the Colour Birdcam 2014 page for a day by day account of this year’s nest box activity.