Hi! So tonight has been one of the worst nights I’ve ever had - I have tried to make my garden a haven for wildlife, and as such some great tits have taken to nesting in a box I put up high on the fence. Now, we have many cats around here, so I can proofed the area around the box with plastic spikes - this seemed to work and the birds laid their eggs and have been feeding lived food regularly for several weeks and seeds for the past week. Last night, I think the local cat sensed the chicks moving, and nearly managed to get at them in the box. I figured I would put up a few extra spikes tonight when things were quiet to prevent the cat eating them. I thought the chicks might fledge today, the parents have cut the feeding down, and they were hanging out of the feeding hole. However no fledging today.
I went out around 8pm after the parents had flown off to put a few of the cat deterring strips near the box, and the chicks became startled and all of them flew out of the box!! This has never happened before, even when I’ve gone about my gardening near the box (my gardening isn’t huge) and even when the box got knocked down by a severe storm. There must have been about 7 birds that flew out. They nearly all flew straight to the land next to my house which is a densely wooded forest area - a little one landed in next doors garden, but then flew up to the forest. I can even see them in the trees.
Now, I am absolutely beside myself - I have done everything I possibly can and because I tried to stop them from being eaten, I scared them and now I’m wondering if they have fledged too early? What will happen? Will the parents be nesting nearby and will they hear them? I know that they need to be fed by parents for several days after fledging. Is all hope lost? The area doesn’t really suffer from predation from raptors - I guess I’m just wondering is there any hope for these little guys? Will they call out for the parents in the morning? They are all in the trees and seemed to be quite able fliers - like I said I thought they might fledge today. I am just completely heartbroken, I just hope that there is some glimmer of hope. They have all made it to the trees - but it’s 8pm and I’m worried that the parents might not find them in the morning. I just feel awful, truly truly awful.