I really struggled tonight to find a name for the post. Over the last two evenings I've checked all my active boxes with mixed results.
Another box has failed, this time at Stithians. 5 eggs became two chicks last week. Tonight both were dead and a brood of Great Tit have reduced from 5 chicks to 3. The 3 are ready to fledge now though. In box 13 all 9 are still surviving having reached the "feathers short" stage. Box A2 01 has 4 Great Tit ready to fledge, box A2 03 has seen 5 Blue Tit fledge from a clutch of 9 eggs. Box A3 03 containing 5 Blue Tit which I thought were going to die last week have now reached feathers large and will be fledging soon.
Down on Mrs Harvey's plot another box has gone, brood of Great Tit all dead whilst the remaining box has fledged - 6 Blue Tit
Sally Pipers plot sees a single egg still in Box P03, haven't given up hope just yet, P 06 has 3 Great Tit ready to fledge from a clutch of 4 and the two biggest successes so far - 7 Great Tit ready to fledge from a clutch of 7 and 9 Blue Tit ready to go from a clutch of 9.
As I write this the horrendous wind and rain has subsided to nothing, calm before the storm or can I get to the coast tomorrow?
It is indeed a strange year. I've only erected two nestboxes here on my local patch in Cardiff. One fledged 2 birds (from 10 eggs). 200m away, the other box fledged 9 young.
ReplyDeleteexactly the same here Dan - two of my schemes are literally across the road from each other, 8 boxes each, totally different results.
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