After the tragedy in 2005, we were not sure if mamma and pappa
tit would ever return, but bless their little hearts they came back again.
We cleaned out the nesting box and tested the camera, rehung the box and along they came. Fingers firmly crossed (ours, not theirs, they don't have fingers).
Getting online
The Blue Tit Family
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|  | The eggs came one a day for a week, then the chicks hatched one a day, all healthy and perky. Seven chicks in all.
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| | *Note to self 'do not name them this year, it can only lead to disaster'* | | |
Feeding | | | | |
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After last year we had read up on possible problems ets. etc. One of the reasons for unthriving chicks was inexperienced parents not finding enough of the right kind of food, we could remedy this by buying live mealworms, through the post!
These things are expensive and come in big bags, which make an unnerving crawling sound everytime they move.
I emptied them out into a high-sided (very high!!!) container and fed them oatmeal and fruit peelings.
(Well I wanted them to die happy!)
We dished them out on the feeders like sweeties and down came the sparrows and ate them up instantly! The tits never got a look in!
So we bought some more and devised a method of putting out a very small quantity at a time and shooing away the sparrows (don't worry the sparrows got the left overs).
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The outcome
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| | Most of the chicks survived - two died, so five fledged and flew away and lived happily ever after.  Video footage of the fledging | | |
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Some interesting observations
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Eggs come one a day, yet they all fledged together, some of those chicks just didn't look ready! I wanted to pick them up and put them back in the nest!
The parents look really ragged after feeding all those chicks.
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