Nest box update- fly away Peter fly away Paul

Our Great Tits all fledged successfully on the 4th June.

Our Blue Tits were another story! All 8 eggs hatched, although it was difficult to determine this at first as they were SO tiny. As they got bigger, it was easy to count the open gapes as their parents came in to feed them. One chick seemed to die in the box around the time of the very hot weather. Then on June 9th, I came in one morning to fine the blue tits at the top of the picture on the monitor rather than at the bottom as previously. Also, there only seemed to be 4 chicks! What had happened? Did a predator enter the nest box, knock the camera and eat the chicks? Maybe a stoat or weasel? Who knows? The remaining 4 chicks went on to successfully fledged on June 17th.

The Barn Owls are doing well although there now only seems to be 4 chicks. Food has seemed a little sparse of late, although one chick was seen trying to swallow a whole vole! Its possible that the 5th chick was eaten since food was scarce as no body has been seen in the box. How many will remain until the end?

All quiet on the osprey front.....

Its still been fairly quiet on our nest but Red 6A is still in evidence. We have had some nice shots of her feeding herself on the dead trees to either side of the nest. We wouldnt really see this so much at this time of the year normally as she would be staying at the nest feeding the chicks. The green ringed male is still about and an unringed bird has been coming and going intermittently. No new rings have been sighted and things seem to be quietening down again. In fact there has been some nest building going on! Both male and female have been bringing in new material to the nest. Ospreys have been known to build frustration eeyries when breeding has failed, so maybe this is kind of like that.