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"Are you going to feed me" ?

HAZY
03/06/2019 19:12

This season we seem to have had more fledglings than ever with several broods from the BT & GT birds.       With live mealworms and camera at the ready, here are some photos.

With being slightly earlier breeders a lot of the Great tit fledglings are now independent although some still demand being fed by their parents;     here is a young Blue Tit who's not quite got the hang of helping itself to the mealies ……………      waiting by the dish for anyone to feed it    LOL

"Are you going to feed me"  ?????   ……………..

Nope  !    probably not its parent so little BT's hunger went unsatisfied  ………...

poor little BT    ;(    

"Are you going to feed me Mr Robin"   ????

Nope  !       so little BT went to inspect the dish itself …………….

"What do I do"  ……….."how do I catch a worm"  ???       "can someone help me out here"  ????

"Momma  ! …………  is that you ?   " …………………..

"GIMME ...…..GIMME...…...GIMME " 

"Thanks Momma"   :)

Another mouth demanding food  !! ………………..

"Momma ……. Poppa"    ……………….

and another young bluey being fed on the trellis …………..

Now the Great Tit juveniles were begging for food ……………….  despite most being independent now …..

"I'm sure I can hear termites in here "      !!! ………………..

meanwhile yet another GT juvenile was being fed nearby ………….

"POPPA ………..MOMMA ………… don't forget ne "     ……………………..

"Come back with that mealie"   !! ……………………….

and this little Blue Tit just looked on bemused at all the activity ……………………...

  • 03/06/2019 21:20
    Aw you can't help but love them. They are so funny. I noticed that we have blue and great tits in boxes, so keeping an eye out. Not had the great tits nest before.
  • 04/06/2019 19:19
    Stunning photos Hazy, the little blue tit looked so cross in that third photo. How could any parent leave it when it was evidently starving!!! Lovely to see the Great Tits too, they are all so very cute.
  • 04/06/2019 21:34
    Great set of photos.
    Interesting, point though. If mealies came with instructions perhaps the youngsters would get the hang of it quicker … or perhaps they just prefer to be fed for as long as they can string it out!
  • 05/06/2019 08:38
    Thanks all, I had to laugh a couple of days ago when a Wren hopped out of the dish with a mealworm and a young Blue Tit grabbed the mealie from its beak ! It's happened before in previous years when even a Nuthatch had a mealworm stolen by a Blue Tit (now there's a brave blue tit ! ) the adult birds did not react, they just looked rather stunned at the cheek of the fledgling !! It seems to have been such a successful season for all the various birds but I am waiting for the onslaught of juvenile Jackdaws any day now ha ha !!
  • 05/06/2019 09:00
    @ Alan, many thanks, I can imagine your local patch birds and the sounds - it is such a wonderful time of year with so many chicks calling to be fed - like an amplified dawn chorus lol. You must be over-run with robin juveniles at the moment although having said this, I haven't seen a juvie in our garden yet although the parents must be on their 2nd brood by now. I have just had an adult blue tit doing it's Yo-yo impression in front of the window reminding me to put some more mealworms out ha ha !! It's back again so I have to go to the garage and see it to follow me ! Talk about emotional blackmail lol
  • 05/06/2019 18:48
    Hazy this morning I was off out with ukulele etc and on opening the boot of car suddenly Titch was by my shoulder,, he was lucky not to get shut in with the music!!! So back up to the house I had to go to give him a feed, even though I had fed him earlier and I leave the back door open for him to come and go as he wants, he too will sit and beg in order for me to feed him directly!. I think he must have moved to another nest as he has been coming to the back of the house for his first brood.





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  • 05/06/2019 18:59
    Awwww, Hazel, What a lovely collection of little cuties! Thanks for posting and I love the captions!
  • 06/06/2019 07:32
    Thanks all,
    @ Gaynor, bless that little robin, as they build up so much trust with you they become fearless to a degree and can win your heart over with their confiding behaviour; in other words, they have us wrapped around their tiny claws ! what a great story to hear about Tich's latest antics ! I can hardly go outside in the garden now without being mobbed by frantic parent birds desperate to quieten their chicks chirping to be fed by shoving a few mealies in their mouths LOL There is now one adult blue tit which has taken to fluttering in front of me and will land on my empty hand as I walk towards the garage and the mealie store - she looks so tatty and worn out I have to chuck her a few quick mealies before I fill the bowl ha ha If I sit down on the patio she is straight on my knee or the edge of the mealworm tub whilst I sieve, feed and clean the worms out. The chicks are the healthiest looking birds I've ever seen in the garden !
    @ Ann, I love this time of year especially and the birds are a distraction to house/garden - you know what I mean !!
  • 06/06/2019 22:12
    Robins are known to be human friendly Hazy but to get a blue tit behaving like that is unusual and just shows how the feeding of these birds is appreciated. Watching Spring Watch it seems there have been a good number of fledglings this year and I think next year your garden should be nominated, just think of all the bacon butties you will be able to make and camera men around your oak trees in their camouflage would be amazing :-)
  • 06/06/2019 23:13
    Proper little buddy you have in Titch Gaynor ... my one here mugged Mick by the front door so he dutifully put out a dish of waxworms which Robin gobbled up in two goes! They are such dear souls!
    Think your idea for aitch to feature on Springwatch is a good'un!