Great to watch the nest building, egg laying, hatching , feeding etc , BUT its when things go wrong. Great Tits laid 10 eggs, all hatched and were being feed well growing well till 14 days old. Box was very cramped as chicks very big, then day 15 only 9 chicks, next day 8, today only 7. Always seems to be 1 chick left after each demise that isn,t doing too well and the parents seem to avoid feeding this one, so next day that ones died, not nice to see. Do the parents decide not to feed the one thats not doing too well to give the others a better chance.
As mentioned the box got very cramped, last year this box was used by Blue Tits and all 11 eggs hatched and fledged. Bigger box for Great Tits??!!
Sad foster dad. Richard
Hi Rich
That's why i would never get a camera box i've just opened mine up after the Blue Tits have fledged to find 5 dead chicks. I assume they will only feed the stongest chicks
Regards Alan
My photos are on Flickr and Website
My thoughts too now about cameras, sad. Also suppose thats why the Tit family always lay so many eggs, expecting some to survive. having said that same box had the whole clutch die (Blue Tits) 2 years running, put that down to extreme weather conditions, 1 year very wet, next very cold.
Richard
I had the Blue Tits nest in another box last year and was surprised to find no dead chicks or eggs though i suppose they could have removed them..ignorance is bliss for me.
Thinking of putting a camera box for my inside shed box for if the coaltits nest again.
I am thinking of just buying the camera kit and fitting into the box they are presently using
Ray
a good laugh is better than a tonic