Fluffy's Progress....

[Catherine]

Things have come a long way in only a few days now.

There are definitely 11 young, so all the eggs I'd counted have hatched! Mind you, two of those seem rather smaller than the others, and though they may have been the last two eggs to be laid and hatched, those little birds will have to fight hard to be seen by the adults when food is brought back to the nestbox.

This was on 30th April - 30th April - watch the little nestling on the top left try to grapple with a piece of grub in its beak! | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (Check out the little one at the top left!)
First photo below - View from outside the box
Early on 3rd May - 11 cheepers | Flickr - Photo Sharing! (You should be able to count 11 tiny nestlings, though you might have to pause the video to do so!)
Second photo below - Fluffy is now finding them difficult to brood! They are getting bigger every minute! - Not enough room any more...
Arnie does his share of feeding and cleaning up - a model dad! - Dad feeds and cleans up | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Last pic below - However, his idea of something suitable for the kids meets with disdain from Fluffy here, as she eats his wriggly offering herself!

[rolf]

Lots more great stuff there Catherine, nice to see the outside shot as well.

[Catherine]

Fluffy has spent most of this evening tidying up her nest - not easy when it is filled with 11 kids!

Meanwhile, Arnie's good deed of the day was to bring home this prize caterpillar!

All 11 gazed at it with open-gapes, then did their best to demolish it bit by bit for their supper!

[Catherine]

I can't believe it is a week since I lasted posted their progress, but Fluffy's family are doing really well now. They are due to leave the nest in a day or two as well!

So, I'll start with a few videos showing how things have come on over the last week;

1. Fluffy had to enlarge the nest as there wasn't enough room for her brood to grow into! - Fluffy uses her head and breast to push the edge of the nest out more... | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
2. They might be sleepy little things, but they sure can react quickly when food appears on the horizon! - Food, guys! | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
3. Poor Fluffy doesn't get much chance to sleep at nights! Imagine what it must be like sharing a bed with 11 little wrigglers though! - 12 in a bed! | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
4. Here they look quite well-behaved - like little angels! See how they fill the nestbox now - and how little 'Oliver' at the front gets his name! - 11 little BT chicks - like eggs in a basket - now filling up the nestbox! | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
5. It's now really important to practise using those wings! - Practising for that first flight! | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

[Catherine]

And now for some pics taken over the last week too!

Firstly, here are Arnie and Fluffy on the trellis yesterday;

[Catherine]

Now here are some pics of what has been happening inside the nestbox during that time....

You can see how the feather pattern is appearing and how much they are growing in size. Also, instead of little dark blobs where their eye sockets are, you can now see beady, black eyes!

[rolf]

Oh yes, some real progress there, looking nice and healthy as well.

[ladylouise62]

Goodness, I can't believe how much they have developed in the week or so that I've not been on the site! Looking back at one of the earlier shots, it really demonstrates how those 'highlighted' gapes direct the parents towards the mouths. But imagine the amount of work that will be going into feeding 11 chicks as they get bigger and bigger

[Catherine]

The parents are still working hard, Louise!

Here is the father feeding the babies earlier today - http://www.flickr.com/photos/nm8/5725820614/

Attached below are some other pics taken just an hour ago. They are 'double-decking' a lot now. Just watch that greedy one on top!

[rolf]

Really looking forward to seeing your external photos Catherine, particularly when they start to fledge.

[Catherine]

Well, I'm just hoping they'll perch somewhere in the light, Rolf - especially somewhere near where I am with the camera!

So far they've not been too obliging!

[rolf]

LOL, typical, however it shoes the tasty grubs they are collecting. Didn't see the photos in your previous post, did you add them later?

[Catherine]

No. the photos were always there. It was the video which I had to change - as I'd copied the link to one of the photos again by mistake!

[rolf]

How strange, must be going blind.

[Catherine]

I thought the chicks would have fledged yesterday (17th) - but they didn't!

Some of them DID find the courage to pop up to the door to check out the big world outside though! - http://www.flickr.com/photos/nm8/5731188806/

I also managed to get a reasonable pic of Fluffy, sitting on the trellis as she waited for her turn to go into the box to feed her young - and, despite the darkness in that corner, Glen managed to record the nestling at the door, then being fed!

[Catherine]

The first nestling to leave was, as expected, 'Oliver' - the one who always wanted more! He left after 4pm on the 18th - against his parents' wishes, as they were really concerned with Magpies startling two nest of Blackbirds at the back of the garden. However, he reached the neighbours' Oak tree safely, and presumably spent the night roosting near one, or both, of his parents.

The following day was the 19th May, when I had to be at the hospital in Bournemouth for 9.40am, so I was afraid I was going to miss all the action. However, much of that happened before we left, as they were all awake and raring to go on a sunny and warm May morning!

There was a great deal of preening and stretching in the box in preparation for the big world outside - Very early on the morning of the 19th May - getting ready for the big adventure | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

And one by one, they ventured out! Leaving the box - I think this was number 7 to fledge! | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
(Please excuse the camera shake here - didn't have time to set up a tripod!)

[Catherine]

Soon, there were only the two smallest to leave - and they didn't waste any time!

One perched on the trellis for Arnie to feed her, while the other just sat in the sun, enjoying the fresh air and warmth!

The nestbox was empty - apart from a few poo-sacs which are still there now!

[Catherine]

There are just two aspects of Fluffy's family life which I haven't shown you - the environment with Hawthorns and Oaks which allowed her to find so many juicy caterpillars for her young, and the 'Poo Tree', where both parents often rested en route back to the box with food, and on which branches they usually scraped those 'poo sacs' from their beaks! (You might even see one on the lhs, middle branch here!)

I hope you can just see one of the parents in the middle of each photo!

[rolf]

Excellent series of photos and description Catherine, I guess you'll feel a little empty once they've totally left home.

[Catherine]

Glad you liked them, Rolf!

Yes, life may seem a bit empty without them - but there will always be another project!

[ladylouise62]

That's fantastic, and great to see that all made it out on their own (with so many I would have expected at least one to lose out too badly on the feeding). I really like the shot of Arnie feeding the penultimate fledgeling.
It must have been great to know that your garden has produced such a large family of new birdies... the proud grandparents, eh?

[joe]

Thank you Catherine for a wonderful series on the blue tits. I really enjoyed it.

[Catherine]

Thanks, Louise and Joe!

It was a wonderful experience for us - as well as for our grandchildren who were absolutely fascinated with the little chicks!