This is the first year I have enjoyed the experience of a camera in my garden nestbox. A Great tit is nesting in it, and I was delighted to see it had laid 4 eggs by Saturday. But since then she has started to incubate them, rarely leaving the nest, her mate is bringing her food. This seems a very small clutch, I thought they laid far more. What is your experience of this?
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
The Great tits this year laid 5 eggs. Four hatched yesterday, with the last one hatching today. Hoping the last one makes it, as last year the same thing happened with a clutch of 4, and 2 days after the last one hatched it died (probably as other chicks stronger and getting more food). Unfortunately the female was not strong enough to remove the dead chick from the nest and had to cover it in the corner of the nestbox. Fingers crossed they all make it this year.
All 5 chicks hatched now, finger's crossed the chick that hatched a whole day later than the rest makes it.
Our Great Tit's 8 eggs ...