Hi All
I made a birdbox and put it in my garden last autumn. Since late March, a blue tit has been filling it up with moss, feathers and dog fur we put out from our German Shepherd. Up to now it's going rather well. The nest looks pretty well stocked by 22nd April.
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Regards, Hazel
Here's today's update
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Tony
My Flickr Photostream
Morning Billy, I supply live mealworms which provide an easy supply of high protein food for the adults and their chicks, placed well away from the nesting boxes/sites which the birds can access easily or you can use this type of hanging guardian cage with in-built dish for food - it's an exhausting process for the adult birds as they try find as much as 100 insects/caterpillars per day for each chick. I use either the hanging feeder guardian cage or a ground narrow mesh guardian cage to prevent larger birds, including blackbirds from raiding the expensive mealworms (I do still give the blackbirds some mealworms which I sprinkle out on the ground for them). They are a bit expensive to purchase but for a few weeks to help the nestlings/fledglings and their parent birds it is worth it. I order my live mealworms from here. You can always provide suet sprinkles and crumbled up fat cake instead, along with quality sunflower hearts for them which is less costly although the birds will queue up for the live mealworms first !
The birds' eggs are still being incubated, and the male at last seems to be upping his game. The clip showed us both a trust in her partner and a moment of sheer terror for him …
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
We're in the middle of the incubation time, but it's nice to see the parents still working as a couple in our garden. One of the birds is using the crow-proof fat ball feeder I made.