3rd June 2013 ..

Day 16 .. Sad news to report I'm afraid ... As feared, the parents never returned, and the final four succumbed. So sad, when they were only a few days from fledging, nature can be so cruel sometimes.

I will have to consider putting contingency measures in place for next year to prevent a re-occurrence. Maybe I should get some fledgling feed in, and read up on hand rearing!

So this year's adventure ends on a sad note, fingers crossed that next season is more successful.

The weather seems to have picked up now, so I will wish you all a happy summer, and maybe see you again next year. Thank you all for your support ...

2nd June 2013 ..

Day 15 .. Well unfortunately, Tiny didn't make it through yesterday, which left 6. However, since then, things appear to have taken a turn for the worse. Early this morning there were still 6 chicks, but there has been no sight of the parents at all today, and the chicks are obviously starving and squabbling, and as a consequence, another has perished. A couple of the stronger ones have been jumping up to the hole, but purely in search of Mom & Dad I would suggest, as they are not quite ready to fledge. 
I can't believe that Dan & Dora would abandon their youngsters, after putting in so much effort, but the signs aren't looking good. They may have course, been predated themselves, but it would be unusual to lose both parents. All we can do is wait and hope that they are just having a Sunday morning lie-in, otherwise I'm afraid the future for the remaining 5 chicks doesn't look good. Here's keeping everything crossed ...

31st May 2013

Day 13 .. Well we seem to have reached a milestone today ... First of all some sad news ... as you can see we now have 6 toughie chicks and Tiny ! I've not been able to confirm the full complement of 10 chicks for a while, and suspected that a couple may have perished, even though I've not seen Dora take any dead chicks out. So fingers crossed that the remaining 7 make it to the end, including Tiny. 
To the milestones .. there was a quite a lot of feeding from the hole today, normally a sign that they are close to fledging, but I would suggest that this is still a good few days off. The major milestone though, is that for the first time, Dora has decided that the chicks are now old enough to be left alone, and has not returned to roost them tonight .. Party time !!!

30th May 2013 ..

Day 12 .. Things are moving on a pace. All of the chicks now have lots of fur and feathers, there are even signs of wing flapping and preening by a couple! I think there are still 10 chicks .. a couple are obviously bigger, and a couple of little chaps seem to be suffering slightly, but where there's life there's hope. Fingers crossed that Dan & Dora can get some food into the mouths of the smaller ones, but whatever the outcome, they have done a fantastic job to get their brood this far. Hard to believe that, weather permitting, they will have all gone this time next week ...

29th May 2013

Day 11 ..Tipping it down with rain outside, but a sodden Dan & Dora, persist to find food for their little bundles of fur ..

27th May 2013 ..

Day 9 ..  All 10 chicks seem to be doing well, with no obvious weakling in the brood, so fingers crossed that Dan & Dora can keep up their tireless food collecting. As a consequence, it is getting mighty crowded in there now, we can already see that most of the chicks have their downy feathers and punky hairstyles, and some are already stretching their wings ! Hard to believe that these little things will be venturing out in the big wide world in less than 10 days time ..

Here we can see Dan attempting to deliver a takeaway, but then thinking better of it !!

Have you noticed that Dan always lands to the left and Dora to the right ?? I should have called them Ant & Dec !!

23rd May 2013 ..

Day 6 .. Yes ! The chicks are only 6 days old, and the first downy feathers are already coming through. I can now also confirm, as you can see from this clip, that there are indeed 10 hungry mouths to feed ..

Here we can see Dan & Dora busy feeding their hungry offspring, and disposing of the roughage ! :

21st May 2013 ..

Day 4 .. not much to report today, apart from the fact that the chicks seem to be doubling in size overnight ! Testament to Dan and Dora, who are both doing a fantastic job of bringing in lots of food. Lots of hungry yellow beaks at meal times, but still can't quite confirm the 10th ..

20th May 2013 ..

Day 3 in the BT house !! Hard to believe that the chicks are only 3 days old, they seem to have doubled in size overnight! Dan & Dora are doing a sterling job bringing in lots of food for their hungry brood.
Having reviewed the days footage, I can confirm that there a definitely 9 chicks, and I am 99% sure that I have spotted 10 yellow gapes at one point, (it should become more apparent as time goes on), so its going to get pretty crowded in there !
Here we can see Dan bringing Dora a spot of supper, as she does a spot of housekeeping at the end of a busy day ...

19th May 2013 ..

I can't see any unhatched eggs this morning, but I suspect there is still at least 1, hidden underneath the new chicks. 
Both Dan & Dora have had a busy day collecting flies and grubs for their new offspring. Here we can see both parents at the end of a long day, with lots of hungry beaks waiting to be filled. I've counted 8, but I can't be sure !!

We are a family !!

18th May 2013
At 05:24 this morning, the first chick made an appearance :

Several more quickly followed, Dora feasted on egg shells for breakfast !! Here we can already see hungry beaks begging for food, as the two proud parents look on :

More hatchlings followed throughout the day, and both Dan and Dora worked feverishly to feed the fast growing brood. By the end of the day, as far as I could make out, there were still at least 2 unhatched eggs. Here we can clearly see 7 expectant hungry gapes. Amazing to think that these chicks are literally hours old!

Phew ! A busy first day for the proud new parents ...

The story so far ...

13th May 2013

Midway through the incubation period, here we can see Dora carefully tending her clutch, as Dan brings her breakfast in bed !!

5th May 2013
By my reckoning, Dora must have laid her first egg around about the 25th April ..
She laid her last egg on the 5th May, completing a healthy clutch of 10 eggs. 
Here you can see the clutch, just before she returns to settle down for the night and begin incubating :

Here we go again ...

After the long winter, I was caught a little unaware this year !! I did notice a few blue tits and great tits showing some interest in the nestbox, but thought it a little too early for any action !!
Imagine my surprise when I hooked up the camera, and found that a pair of Blue Tits had been very busy indeed and that the nest cup was already fully formed. 
Dan and Dora had taken residence ! Let's see how they get on ...