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This is my 1st Post on here so hope you can help
I have a web cam nest box and Blue Tits have nested in there yearly. This year 8 eggs were laid & 7 hatched but one by one the babies are dying . A few died very young. We went down to 5 babies - they now have feathers and are at the preening stage and look a good size. Since yesterday morning - there is now definetely only 4. I'm worried and just don't know why this could be happening!! Is it the weather or some disease??? The parents are doing a good job feeding them. I almost dreading checking on them each day just incase anoher one is missing.
Hi everyone,
Last time i was on i was saying how sad i was as we had lost all our 6 Bluetit chicks. We were wondering why the mum bluetit had dissapeared and left the dad bluetit to try to raise the chicks himself, well now we no why. Yesterday our next door neighbour called across to me to say she had found the remains of a female bluetit at the bottom of her garden!! Obviously a cat had got her which is so sad as now we would have had the young flying round our garden. I am a cat lover but at the moment i dont like them, i know its in the cats nature to what they do but nature is cruel
Hi I'm new to this forum, but had to tell you about our bluetits. Last year we had 11 eggs and 10 fledged think about 4 survived. This year 2012 the bluetit started sleeping in the nest in February, eventually built a nest and laid 13 eggs. We had 10 chicks and all seemed to be well. Then all of a sudden we were down to 4 chicks the following day just 2 chicks were there and sadly they died in front of us. The mother kept coming to the nest with food sad to watch. That evening and the following evening she actually slept on the dead chicks. On the wednesday the nest was cleared and there were 2 eggs. As of last Friday there are now 8 eggs and she is again incubating so hopefully all is not lost.
It was a hard learning curve though seeing Mother Nature at her worst, but then the sun came out and she is smiling again. Will keep you informed as to what happens.
Hi all,
Just to give you an update.
I got the mealworm which I am topping up every day. She is not interested in it at all. The doves and sparrows are eating it. I am also topping up a dish with small bits of bread in water and she is taking some of that. I took some bird seed out of the hanging bag and put it in a dish she seems to be taking more from the dish. She is taking a lot from the fat balls.
The last two babies are really coming on. They are now moving around the nest and flapping their little wings, it is quite funny watching the mammy chase them back to the centre.
Brigid
Hello
Iam new to this forum and have found all the info on this page very helpfull i was saddend today to find all my chicks dead five in total after watching them for weeks building the nest then feeding the chicks but after not seeing the parents for two days and no longer hearing the cherping i thought i better take a look. This has not put me off though i have cleaned the box and will be looking forward to them returning next year hopefully fingers crossed.
Hello Knobby and welcome from me in Lancashire.
We have had loads of sad threads about bluetit chicks dying this year. Far more than we normally get. It is sad, but I am pleased to hear it hasn't put you off at all. You never know, they may nest again this year. There is time yet.
Cheers, Linda.
See my photos on Flickr
thought I would give you an update she is still sitting on 8 eggs we are expecting them to hatch just after the weekend.
Hi everyone, 1st post and what a sad one it is, on checking my nestbox earlier to-day i found 9 dead blue tit chicks all had died at various stages, last year was the exact same excepct there were 8, i'm just wondering if i contributed in the deaths in anyway as i have a feeder which i fill with seed everyother day, i had noticed 1 or both of the adult tits visiting the feeder then going into the box on many occasions, could this be the cause of the deaths?
Hi wullieboy, how sad for you that you have lost your blue tit chicks again. We lost 6 this year after having 5 fledge last year. You said you were wondering if having a feeder you were filling was anyway connected to you losing the chicks. I would not have thought so as i have a feeder near where my blue tits nest and they were always using it. If i am correct in thinking (i could be wrong!) but the parents use the feeder for themselves to get energy and strength to feed their babies. If you have seen Springwatch this last week they are watching a blue tit nest and they were talking about the parents using the feeders for that exact purpose. They will feed mainly caterpillars and insects to their young to start with so dont worry to much. There could be a number of reasons why your blue tit chicks died, you only have to read this forum. I hope this helps a bit, i am new myself to nesting chicks and am learning all about it as i go along. Best of luck to you next year :)
An update for you - Sunday 03/06/2012 we have 4 babies hatched this morning and 4 eggs still waiting.
An update.
Sadly one of the chicks died on Friday.
The mother and the last chick have left the nest this morning.
We will clear the nest later today ( when it stops raining ), and hope we get another nesting pair.
Good luck to all that have chicks left.