Nesting tragedy

Morning all,

we put up some nesting boxes this year and were delighted to be blessed with a pair of nesting blue tits. They were really busy ‘in and out’ feeding their young for days. We then had some torrential storms and the next morning found one of the parents dead on our driveway. I’m guessing they had to continue collecting food for the babies and got wet and heavy and died of exhaustion. So sad. I checked the nest box and of course the 3 babies had died. 

is this a common occurrence? 

  • Thanks for sharing your expertise.

    Perhaps it was a fledgling that I found. Is that what you think could be possible?

    The ones left in the nest had beaks and downy feathers but were v small.

    How many eggs in a brood would you expect? I didn’t see any shell pieces but didn’t inspect thoroughly.
  • That’s very interesting. Thank you. Let’s hope that at least a few made it out alive.

    It’s heartbreaking stuff this wildlife business but we’ll do our best to help them along.