What an exciting day! We weren’t expecting the chicks to hatch for another couple of days as the eighth and final egg of the Blue Tit clutch was laid on the 1st May. However, a couple of diligent birdcam watchers from Kingfisher Class spotted that two chicks had hatched out by mid-morning. We’ll forgive the boys from being side tracked from working because they brought us this exciting news! After lunch Woodpecker Class watched as a further chick hatched and the female ate the egg shell. We also watched the parents feeding the chicks some tiny caterpillars. These chicks start life helpless, blind and unable to feed themselves unlike the chicken chicks which we watched hatch out a couple of weeks ago. It’s amazing to think that in around three weeks time they will be nearly as big as the adult birds and ready to fledge (fly) from the nest box.

Update: 16th May  We think we’ve managed to spot eight beaks at once which means that all the eggs hatched. One or two of the eggs hatched a couple of days after the others.

Update 27th May – Half the brood have died over this wet bank holiday weekend. Will the remaining four survive their final week before fledging?