Some photos of the chicks hanging out in the garden. All 6 are in the first photo and the chicks are in the second.  Today we have even seen all 6 BT's and 2 GT's on the feeding table at the same time.  We also regularly have in the garden, a bullfinch, chaffinches, starlings, blackbirds, coal tits, great tits, robins, dunnocks and unfortunately wood pigeons, magpies, grey squirrels and.....a field mouse.

 

 

Unfortunately the 5th chick didn't make it.  Within minutes of the 4th chick fledging it moved position in the box and died.  Although not unexpected (as it was very listless this morning), it's still a shock even though in the back of my mind I guessed this might happen from quite early on as it was always much smaller than the others.

On a happier note, the others are still in the garden and learning to feed from the table and the various feeders - will try and get some garden photos tomorrow.

Came down early this morning and on first glance I thought they had all gone.... then I saw two chicks still in the nest. (Top and centre left)

Not for long though - managed to (just) get a clip of the fourth leaving the nest for the first and last time. (you can just see its tail as it is leaving the nest bottom left)

Not sure what happens now - whether Mrs BT will continue to feed, until the last chick which is a good bit smaller than the others, fledges? Looks like she is still coming back to the nest.

The chicks are now very big and showing signs of flight. The nest is now looking very small as poor Mrs B T is squeezed out. As they get bigger, they make more noise and become more competitive.

Got it at last - just!

Someone (no names Oscar) managed to move the camera today.  We had to wait until the parents went looking for seeds in the woods at the back of the house.  Armed with a mobile phone with an earpiece and Tracey in front of the PC with another mobile we managed to gently move the camera back in to position.  I think they saw me as they were away for about half an hour, but eventually to our relief they came back.  Looks like the picture quality has improved though for some reason.

 

The 6th egg still clearly visible, we are running out of hope now as it is a couple of days overdue and even if it did hatch, with the other five hungry mouths feeding, it probably wouldn't be able to survive.

On checking the camera at lunchtime today, we have a fifth arrival.  Just one more to go now.  We are starting to hear some cheeping now, it must be the older chicks getting stronger (and hungrier) by the day.

At 5pm - there are 4 chicks now.  More white feathers around the nest and both parents have been seen taking turns feeding today.

Two of the eggs have hatched during this morning.  We thought that might be it for today but a third arrived mid afternoon.  They're 'not pretty' according to Bethan, but she is over the moon that they have finally arrived. Protruding closed eyes, big wide yellow beaks, huge heavy heads and scrawny necks - That's nature for you.

As the day progressed, they appeared to get stronger and are certainly getting fed well by Mum and Dad.  All are taking food as Dad brings it in and feeds it to Mum who in turn feeds the wide awaiting chick beaks.  We have recorded the birds chirping quite differently now just before feeding time.  Mum doesn't seem to have realised yet that a whole caterpillar is a little bit too much for a day old chick.

Mum tried to settle at 6pm with her head under her wing to sleep for the night as she has done every other night.  But no - the chicks had a different idea and were still feeding at 8pm and it's still non-stop

Not much has been happening over the last few days.  Mrs BT, exhausted from all her work is now sitting on her eggs for longer periods of time.  She pops out for brief periods helping to regulate the temperature of the incubation - as well as giving herself a well-earned rest.  Mr BT appears to be sleeping outside at night.

There is plenty of activity outside on the table - blue tits, great tits, robin's starlings, chaffinch, blackbirds to name a few.  Anyway here is a photo of the eggs at last...

 

Six eggs are now present although Lucy can count 10 on the TV !

Mrs BT spends a lot of time sitting on the eggs now.  We saw Mr BT make a brief appearance on TV today as he came in to the box to feed the sitting bird - very brief, it is going to be a challenge to get a photo of them both in the box at the same time.

Both birds can be seen feeding outside during the day even when Oscar is outside or one of us is sitting outside.  They don't even mind the washing being put out.

Last night we linked the camera to the PC, so we should start to get some photos on here soon.

22:00 - one bird sitting on eggs, very settled no more laboured breathing.

They have left the nest for some time today.  They brought in some feathers in the evening and Mrs BT is busy shifting the furniture about.  She has been quite unsettled today - keeps fidgeting, fixing the nest, tapping on the nestbox, pulling nest material over herself.  She has tucked herself away over on the far side of the box, away from the entrance.  All the adult females in the house are feeling very sorry for her as they are convinced she is in labour.  Her breathing is very fast !

She has started twittering occasionally for the first time and feeds regularly from the bird table - even when the washing is being put out.  The pair are usually together during the day. 

Must make time to get the cam hooked up to the PC soon.

We have noticed 2 eggs in the nest around teatime.  They were definitely not there earlier in the day.  The birds were very busy today bringing in feathers in 20-minute intervals.  Mrs BT settled down for the night at about 19:30.  Maybe now we can get some things done ourselves in the house - we have been addicted to watching them on TV over the last few days.

At about 5pm, we saw something moving in the box - our first nesting bird is a blue tit.  The box is full of nesting material.  Unsure of what it was at first as the camera was in infrared but we soon realised.  She slept overnight and we were all absolutely stunned - not that something had nested, but that we bought a piece of technology that had actually worked !

We put up our new nestbox in early April.  However as it is MUCH colder up here in Scotland, we don't expect anything to start happening until about now.  here's hoping (or there will be a very disappointed 8 year old)

The box is situated at the back of the house.  Built from Cedar, it is equipped with a colour camera (infrared in low light conditions) and audio.