Great Tit (Parus major)

I felt like one this morning.....

This morning I decided to stake out my Great Tit occupied boxes for which I have no egg count at all. For the first box I leaned against a distant tree and within a couple of minutes the bird had come out. I approached the box and very carefully, just in case, lifted the lid. She was still in there. A few minutes of waiting and the male came back, into and out of the box. She was getting fed on the nest. I waited and again this time 30 minutes later the male flew in and out of the box. Deciding it wasn't going to happen I packed up and left.

I arrived at the next box where some shelter from the wind could be had against the bank. I crouched down and watched. An hour later with enthusiasm waning and a wet backside I decided to double back and check a Blue Tit box about 100m away that still didn't have eggs. On the way I saw another box - looking at that box, looking up at the one I had been watching I soon realised I had been watching the wrong box - the one I had been watching for an hour was - EMPTY!!!!!

Here are some Blue Tit chicks, the first from the boxes, already developing nicely