Link to May 2023 thread
Asha is the proud parent of 3 eggs, the father of which being dubious but probably URM - now called Brodie - as we hardly saw NN2 (for whom we wish all the best elsewhere) be accepted by Asha. Brodie had a lot of trouble fending off intruders which has made him a bit flaky in the fish catching and delivery department. Poor old Asha didn't eat for over 2 days last week. The main intruder was KL5, who seems to have stopped hanging around so much now, which is good as we approach hatch date and the need for fish will ramp up.
A scylla-super-snap of the happy parents-to-be
Also, courtesy of scylla, here are the laying dates;
25 April - egg 1
28 April - egg 2
01 May - egg 3
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr
27 June
Asha brought in a couple of sticks, this was her best one:
Here, she's putting the finishing touches on placement, shifting its far end:
This was her second clump, the first being indistinct. Before & after snaps, to show off my cleaning-up prowess (is there no end to it?) - thanks to IrfanView - Irfan must be a very rich pensioner, he doesn't charge but must surely get a lot of donations.
Asha went for a dip!
scylla said:FISH !!! !!! !!!
Thank you for checking, WENDY
However, I should have reported "TIDDLER !!! !!! !!!" - couldn't see it at all once it was landed, Asha had a hard time too! (Both cams checked.)
Mumbrella time:
IMAGICAT
FISH !!! !!! !!!
EDIT
Well done, Brodie, in this nasty weather
We've had quite a long buffer phase on all LG cams but they've recovered now.
Canuck said: confirmed as a Crested Tit by other chatters
Thank you, Canuck! And I proceeded to make a real mess of the video but here it is anyway.
Glad to read that the bonking at mealtime I noticed earlier turned out OK for #2.
Thanks for the info re absence of any more fish, WENDY - I'm wilting so it's good not to have to trawl for a while.
Forgot to say - I do keep an eye out for Cresties when checking the feeder cam but haven't picked one up yet. Every season they go missing in the summer, IIRC, so I was surprised by the one at the nest today - oops, yesterday.
Staying with yesterday, here was Asha mumbrella-ing late afternoon and taking a break as soon as expedient: