Feeding

untitled

Feeding

Welcome to the feeding stage:

Overview Incubating Hatching Feeding Fledging

4/5/07

Mum feeds the tiny little chicks here. Notice the huge grub in the mouth of the one in the corner of the nestcup.

5/5/07
"Housekeeping is always important" says Emily fondly as she knocks the poor chicks out the way in her search for that errant feather that had been annoying her all night.

6/5/07

Happy families! What a great picture of Mum and Dad together again with their chicks.

7/5/07
Emily calls for George (who we now suspect has an extramarital affair on the go) to come and babysit the children while she finds some food.

Yet another fiddling frenzy with the corners of the nest cup. You can just about see a little pink head underneath her.

Lunch! A juicy caterpillar arrives for those who are quick enough to grab it and swallow quick!

8/5/07

Unfortunately rain and cloudy skies have caused all images to be black and white today. Anyway, Mum looks as alert as always when on duty...

...although the now 5 day old chicks don't let her forget them for too long.

Emily and George with a baby (now named Cedric) in the afternoon.

11/5/07

Today we have been able to see huge development with the chicks. They are beginning to open their eyes, their wings are developing with stripes on them, and they are even starting to preen themselves.

This is the new bird box choir. Can you see the eyes beginning to open and the wings starting to develop?

George (who is beginning to do his fair share) looks a little unnerved by the rather large mouths in this picture.

George checking the nest is still intact after his thrashing attempts at cleaning the nest cup.

Feeding proceeds as normal, with no time for incubating due to the new presence of feathers and increasingly large mouths.

Here we have a classic example of human watching by Emily. The chicks don't seem to be very interested though.

12/05/07
Here are the 9 (yes, there are 9 there) chicks that are quickly (too quickly for their parents) developing into grown up Blue Tits. You can just see eyes beginning to peek open on some of them.

Emily stays on the alert for her mate, who is very close to slipping below Emily's expected standard of parenthood.

Emily (or George - it is hard to tell the difference between them now they are both so scruffy) approaches the chicks with caution. Can you see the wings in the corner of the cup?

More wings - very easy to see this time - and more mouths - even easier to see.

14/5/07

Although today has continued the long line of cloudy and rainy days, we managed to get a few good images of the chicks, including this first good shot of the chicks' wings.

And in this one we can see the eyes of the chicks at the front well and truly open, on the look out for food. Today, also, the chicks are beginning to make more adult sounding noises.

Finally we can see both Emily and George obeying the masters with a breathtaking speed.

18/5/07

Finally some sun! We have been able to get some colour images of the chicks today, who, as you will see, have become a bit big for their boots...

What's this then? Chicks out of that ridiculously small nestcup? Nice to see that logic has finally prevailed over those huge feather balls. Or at least one of them anyway.

"What a lovely wall we have here. It's just soooo......wooden."

"Oh shut up. We're trying to sleep. Stop talking to yourself."

This is the first really good picture of a wing we've managed to get. Look at the patterns. And by the way, I think that chick underneath is on to us.

Here's Emily and George feeding their chicks. I think George is a miffed by the fact we can get colour pictures for a change.

19/5/07

Who's preening who? The nest cup is so small for all 9 of the young Blue Tits that I'm not sure they can even tell.

The young Blue Tits seem to be spending more and more time outside of the nestcup now, in preparation for that all important graduation day, when they will fly the nest (literally).

Now, that's cheating! This clever little one near the hole has obviously learned the lesson of life for Blue Tits - survival of the fattest.

20/5/07

I haven't been able to take too many images today because of some camera trouble, but here is one of all 9 of our young Blue Tits (not chicks any more).
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4/5/07 Mum feeds the tiny little chicks here. Notice the huge grub in the mouth of the one in the corner of the nestcup.
5/5/07 "Housekeeping is always important" says Emily fondly as she knocks the poor chicks out the way in her search for that errant feather that had been annoying her all night.
6/5/07 Happy families! What a great picture of Mum and Dad together again with their chicks.
7/5/07 Emily calls for George (who we now suspect has an extramarital affair on the go) to come and babysit the children while she finds some food.
Yet another fiddling frenzy with the corners of the nest cup. You can just about see a little pink head underneath her.
Lunch! A juicy caterpillar arrives for those who are quick enough to grab it and swallow quick!
8/5/07 Unfortunately rain and cloudy skies have caused all images to be black and white today. Anyway, Mum looks as alert as always when on duty...
...although the now 5 day old chicks don't let her forget them for too long.
Emily and George with a baby (now named Cedric) in the afternoon.
11/5/07 Today we have been able to see huge development with the chicks. They are beginning to open their eyes, their wings are developing with stripes on them, and they are even starting to preen themselves.
This is the new bird box choir. Can you see the eyes beginning to open and the wings starting to develop?
George (who is beginning to do his fair share) looks a little unnerved by the rather large mouths in this picture.
George checking the nest is still intact after his thrashing attempts at cleaning the nest cup.
Feeding proceeds as normal, with no time for incubating due to the new presence of feathers and increasingly large mouths.
Here we have a classic example of human watching by Emily. The chicks don't seem to be very interested though.

12/05/07 Here are the 9 (yes, there are 9 there) chicks that are quickly (too quickly for their parents) developing into grown up Blue Tits. You can just see eyes beginning to peek open on some of them.
Emily stays on the alert for her mate, who is very close to slipping below Emily's expected standard of parenthood.
Emily (or George - it is hard to tell the difference between them now they are both so scruffy) approaches the chicks with caution. Can you see the wings in the corner of the cup?
More wings - very easy to see this time - and more mouths - even easier to see.
14/5/07 Although today has continued the long line of cloudy and rainy days, we managed to get a few good images of the chicks, including this first good shot of the chicks' wings.
And in this one we can see the eyes of the chicks at the front well and truly open, on the look out for food. Today, also, the chicks are beginning to make more adult sounding noises.
Finally we can see both Emily and George obeying the masters with a breathtaking speed.
18/5/07 Finally some sun! We have been able to get some colour images of the chicks today, who, as you will see, have become a bit big for their boots...
What's this then? Chicks out of that ridiculously small nestcup? Nice to see that logic has finally prevailed over those huge feather balls. Or at least one of them anyway.
"What a lovely wall we have here. It's just soooo......wooden." "Oh shut up. We're trying to sleep. Stop talking to yourself."
This is the first really good picture of a wing we've managed to get. Look at the patterns. And by the way, I think that chick underneath is on to us.
Here's Emily and George feeding their chicks. I think George is a miffed by the fact we can get colour pictures for a change.

19/5/07 Who's preening who? The nest cup is so small for all 9 of the young Blue Tits that I'm not sure they can even tell.
The young Blue Tits seem to be spending more and more time outside of the nestcup now, in preparation for that all important graduation day, when they will fly the nest (literally).
Now, that's cheating! This clever little one near the hole has obviously learned the lesson of life for Blue Tits - survival of the fattest.
20/5/07 I haven't been able to take too many images today because of some camera trouble, but here is one of all 9 of our young Blue Tits (not chicks any more).	Web Hosting · Blog · Guestbooks · Message Forums · Mailing Lists Easiest Website Builder ever! · Build your own toolbar · Free Talking Character · Email Marketing powered by bravenet.com