Soldato
Last night it looked like she was trying to feed using the ones poked through, can't remember the timestamp but she ate 1-2 of them herself.
Live Stream of my Bird Box - Bluetits Nesting - Chicks Hatching Now
- Thread starter Nazbit
- Start date
Soldato
Sparrows may have caused issues, but equally it could be that they were picky birds or just crap parents. Sad but that’s nature I’m afraid.
Earlier on I witnessed a magpie pin down a fledgling starling, it picked on the wrong species though as about a dozen starlings rained down on it immediately lol.
Luckily the fledgling was okay but the magpie has to eat too I suppose.
Earlier on I witnessed a magpie pin down a fledgling starling, it picked on the wrong species though as about a dozen starlings rained down on it immediately lol.
Luckily the fledgling was okay but the magpie has to eat too I suppose.
Soldato
- Joined
- 2 Apr 2006
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- 3,699
Probably an avian version of post natal depression. She's had a rough time losing all the other chicks and an absent father to boot.
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Is there a problem with the live feed at the moment?
Soldato
It's been taken down at the moment as the bird has gone full Truman Show.
Soldato
My GF woke up to a hellish noise the other morning, seems a juvenile blackbird was being attacked by a magpie in our garden. The noise was all the other birds!
Chased it away and got into the garden to find a poorly wee bird, still grasping with claws and semi responsive.
We tried to keep him warm, didn't know what else to do... no nests of that size near us (tends to be smaller birds, wrens and ****). Sadly he passed a few minutes later whilst I was trying to get through to the SSPCA for advice or help.
Poor wee chap
Regardless of where this goes, thanks for the stream.
As I said before, nature can be brutal and anyone that's watched any nature documentaries should be conditioned to the fact that there isn't always a happy ending.
I read that sometimes Bluetits try for a second clutch if unsuccessful at first so who knows... Fingers crossed that things turn around against the odds.
I've been inspired to cat-proof my garden now so I can put out some feeding stations and maybe some boxes for next year.
So for anyone wondering she did eventually abandon the chick.
She started the day well bringing 4-5 caterpillars for him to eat.
For some reason she was unable to actually feed them to the chick. I think partly this was because he was moving around a lot on order to get her attention and secure the food but she also looked like she had a problem with coordination. Each time she tried to feed him she gave up and ate it herself.
She then left him alone in the nest for 2.5 hours.
This is when I turned off the feed as it seemed she was abandoning the chick and at that point I didn't just want to livestream the starvation of a chick if there was no real hope of her coming back to the rescue.
Obviously this was a very long time and by far the longest period that she has been out for since she built the nest.
She did come back to briefly sit on him after that. Then she left again and was away for a few more hours. The second time that she returned she seemed disoriented, confused, uninterested in the chick. Potentially even surprised that the chick was there.
Seeing him left alone and abandoned was by far the most upsetting part of this processes. The deaths of the other chicks and absence of the male had all been very sad in their own right. But seeing the oldest, strongest and biggest chick left in the nest to die alone was very upsetting.
With the other chicks she tried her best and it wasn't good enough. With this one she gave up or was otherwise incapable of caring for him. So he was let down and left to die through no fault of his own.
The chick made it more or less 24 hours without food and with very little assistance from her maybe partly due to temperatures in that part of the garden of 25 degrees this afternoon. But sadly he has now died.
Whilst there will be some people who think that we should have rescued it and others that think we should have left it alone I can assure you that we explored every avenue. We spent all afternoon seeing what could be done but unfortunately we were unable to find a solution that would give the chick the shot at life it deserved. Especially not as a wild bird which is how it should be.
We've watched the two parent bluetits visit this camera box since November so it's very sad and disappointing to see it end this way.
To think that we went from two parents doing their jobs perfectly and 7 eggs to a situation where all of the chicks and probably both parents have died is heartbreaking.
But as we keep saying. That is nature and nature can be very harsh.
I hope that you found the streams interesting / insightful / educational. Hopefully at some point you found them enjoyable.
As sad as this is I suppose it's an insight in to what is going on all around us in hedges, trees, bushes. It's quite natural but it happens out of sight.
She started the day well bringing 4-5 caterpillars for him to eat.
For some reason she was unable to actually feed them to the chick. I think partly this was because he was moving around a lot on order to get her attention and secure the food but she also looked like she had a problem with coordination. Each time she tried to feed him she gave up and ate it herself.
She then left him alone in the nest for 2.5 hours.
This is when I turned off the feed as it seemed she was abandoning the chick and at that point I didn't just want to livestream the starvation of a chick if there was no real hope of her coming back to the rescue.
Obviously this was a very long time and by far the longest period that she has been out for since she built the nest.
She did come back to briefly sit on him after that. Then she left again and was away for a few more hours. The second time that she returned she seemed disoriented, confused, uninterested in the chick. Potentially even surprised that the chick was there.
Seeing him left alone and abandoned was by far the most upsetting part of this processes. The deaths of the other chicks and absence of the male had all been very sad in their own right. But seeing the oldest, strongest and biggest chick left in the nest to die alone was very upsetting.
With the other chicks she tried her best and it wasn't good enough. With this one she gave up or was otherwise incapable of caring for him. So he was let down and left to die through no fault of his own.
The chick made it more or less 24 hours without food and with very little assistance from her maybe partly due to temperatures in that part of the garden of 25 degrees this afternoon. But sadly he has now died.
Whilst there will be some people who think that we should have rescued it and others that think we should have left it alone I can assure you that we explored every avenue. We spent all afternoon seeing what could be done but unfortunately we were unable to find a solution that would give the chick the shot at life it deserved. Especially not as a wild bird which is how it should be.
We've watched the two parent bluetits visit this camera box since November so it's very sad and disappointing to see it end this way.
To think that we went from two parents doing their jobs perfectly and 7 eggs to a situation where all of the chicks and probably both parents have died is heartbreaking.
But as we keep saying. That is nature and nature can be very harsh.
I hope that you found the streams interesting / insightful / educational. Hopefully at some point you found them enjoyable.
As sad as this is I suppose it's an insight in to what is going on all around us in hedges, trees, bushes. It's quite natural but it happens out of sight.
I watched a lot of the feeding attempts. It was odd as the chick just wasn't opening its mouth, I think this confused her. We'll never know why it wouldn't feed.
Top work though, I hope this doesn't discourage you from doing this again.
Yeah there were a few attempts where it didn't open its mouth which I assume was down to weakness.
But there where several other attempts where she just couldn't place it within its beak or would get it in the beak only for her to pull away with it still in her mouth.
So that was very odd and frustrating to watch.
But there where several other attempts where she just couldn't place it within its beak or would get it in the beak only for her to pull away with it still in her mouth.
So that was very odd and frustrating to watch.
In terms of doing it again. The outcome hasn't put me off as although I'm definitely sad tonight I've enjoyed seeing it and learning about it. It was however much more work (the streaming) than I'd expected it to be so if I didn't do it again it would be for that reason.
The box will stay up for the summer so if we do get any sparrows taking it up then I may restart the videos.
However I'm not sure they're actually interested in it as a nest site I think they were just curious and being terrirtorial or even just doing if for sport which makes it worse.
I do have several ideas that I've picked up along the way for a new bird box design, improvements to the cameras etc. So I'll have a think about it all through the summer.
Scruffy is very distinctive so if we do see her around I'll be sure to let you all know. I'd be surprised if she makes it though.
The box will stay up for the summer so if we do get any sparrows taking it up then I may restart the videos.
However I'm not sure they're actually interested in it as a nest site I think they were just curious and being terrirtorial or even just doing if for sport which makes it worse.
I do have several ideas that I've picked up along the way for a new bird box design, improvements to the cameras etc. So I'll have a think about it all through the summer.
Scruffy is very distinctive so if we do see her around I'll be sure to let you all know. I'd be surprised if she makes it though.
Mate you've provided a welcome break from the usual bickering, so props for that at least
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@Nazbit sad ending yes, but a great journey with lots learned by a lot of us here I think. I'd love it if you did this again next year, it's informative, and it's nature as sad as this outcome was. Thanks so much for doing this though, it's been a great thread.
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Thanks Nazbit! Very sad ending but has been very interesting to watch. Hope you set up another in the future.