Blue Tits (1 Viewer)

[a1terrier]

Hi All
New member here.
Bought a box of wine a few years ago and instead of the usual cardboard box outer it came with a wooden outer with a small hole at the bottom.
Put it up in a safe place (after finishing the wine!) in the garden and last year we had blue tits nesting. After a while the activity stopped. I left the box until late September then had a peep inside to find four little eggs.
Left it a bit longer then cleaned it out as the blue tits were obviously not coming back.
As the box wasn’t designed to be a bird box I bought a proper one earlier this year.
There was a lot of activity with various blue tits pecking at the hole so I bought another box and placed it on another tree about 8 feet away.
Once the new box was installed all the activity swapped to the new box.
We now have a pair of blue tits in the new box flying in and out on a regular basis feeding heavily on the fat balls in the bird feeder then straight back in to the box.
I can’t hear any chicks when I am out in the garden, am I right in thinking the chicks have hatched but are very quiet?
Sorry about the long winded post but I’m interested to know what might be going on.
Thanks for any replies

Chris

 

[delia todd]

Hi Chris and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators. I moved your post so as you have your own thread.

It does sound like the eggs haven't hatched unfortunately. But please don't be tempted to look inside until you see absolutely no activity from the adults. It's possible they are a young, inexperienced pair and the eggs may not have been fertile, or they left them to get cold. It could just be that they are late, if you live in the north. I've not seen young Blue Tits yet, but have House Sparrows just fledged today.

I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.

 

[a1terrier]

Hi and thanks for welcome and reply. If the eggs haven’t hatched I was wondering why the pair are continually taking food into the box. Sometimes it’s every few minutes especially in the morning.
Here’s hoping they are ok.

 

[Kits]

Welcome to Birdforum.

We have a nest box and 10 blue tit eggs were laid. 9 hatched and they all fledged on 23 May. We didn't hear any cheeping from the nest box, but we have a nest box camera so watched their progress. The chicks are fed on caterpillars until they fledge, so it's unlikely that they were being fed from the fat balls.

Today I have been watching the babies being fed by their mother - from the fat balls.

 

[a1terrier]

Thanks for reply. Maybe they have hatched and are just quiet, as I said mum and dad have been really active in and out of the box just recently.
Will keep watching and hoping.

 

[Chris G6 UXU]

Hello and welcome to the forum, enjoy and all the best.

 

[KC Foggin]

Welcome aboard Chris Hope you enjoy your time with us

 

[a1terrier]

Thanks for the warm welcomes.

 

[Fritz73]

Hola! Welcome to Birdforum

 

[a1terrier]

Thanks for the warm welcomes.

Hi All
Sad to say that no visible activity for nearly two weeks now. Mum and Dad were regular visitors to the fat balls and bird seed but no more. Am fearing the worst.