Diary 2023
August 17 - All gone!
The last adult left today and the last chick finally fledged around 10pm. The end of our best season yet, with 9 out of 10 hatched chicks fledged from 5 boxes.
August 15 - One adult and one chick have gone, just 2 birds left.
August 9 - Last remaining chick-less adults have now left - just the 4 bird family left now.
August 2 - And again
2nd chick in box 2 fledged, just the 2 in box 4 left now.
July 31- Another fledging
One of the box 2 pair has gone, the other is exercising vigorously and looking out a lot.
July 30 - More fledging
Today the single chick in box 1 went at 43 days old. Also both chicks in box 3 went at 40 days old. The second went at 9pm in the gloomy, drizzly dusk. Never had a fledging that late in those conditions, hope it is ok. The parents in both boxes are still roosting there. Only 4 chicks left now.
July 20 - Fledging!
Both chicks in box 5 went this morning, both 41 days. Had a large (up to 15 birds) screaming party around the house all morning so guess they were encouraged to join the fun.
July 11 - Lost a chick
We noticed a poorly chick looking out of box 5 (here) yesterday and today found it dead outside. Probably undernourished as was the smallest of the 3. It was very thin with bad eyes and beak.
July 7 - 2nd chick for box 4 hatched yesterday
No more eggs and 10 chicks!
July 5 - First chick hatched in box 4, just 1 egg to go...
June 21 - 2nd egg in box 3 and 1st egg in box 2 hatched this morning. Now have 7 chicks and 3 eggs remaining. Checking last thing, found out that 2nd egg in box 2 has also hatched, so that's 8 chicks in total.
June 20 - 1st egg hatched in box 3, 1 to go.
June 19 - A 2nd egg for box 4!
June 17 - 4th chick!
The sole egg in box 1 has hatched (other 2 eggs were ejected from the nest cup).
June 14 - Another egg.
The first for the newest pair, box 4.
June 11 - There was a 3rd egg in box 5, which hatched later, so we now have 3 chicks in box 5!
June 9 - First 2 chicks of the season!
Both hatched early on the 9th in box 5.
June 6 - 9th egg!
A 2nd egg for box 2. Unfortunately 2 eggs have now been pushed out of the nest cup in box 1 but at least that gives the remaining egg a great chance.
June 2 - A 2nd egg for box 3 makes 8 in total (3 in box 1, 2 in boxes 3 & 5 and 1 in box 2) with 5 adult pairs.
June 1 - Pair roosted in box 4 again.
May 31 - 7th egg starts the 2nd clutch for box 2
Partner in box 4 missing all night again but did re-appear briefly today.
May 30 - 6th egg!
First for box 3 arrived this morning, see here. Worryingly, one bird did not roost in box 4 last night and has not been seen all day, we shall see if it returns..
May 29 - 5th egg making a triple for box1!
May 27 - 4th egg and our 10th bird!
Box 1 laid their 2nd egg this morning. Then box 4 finally found a mate. Now 5 pairs.
May 25 - 3rd egg!
Pair in box 1 laid their first egg this morning. Now we have 4 pairs, 1 single and 3 eggs.
May 24 - 9th colony bird
Arrived around 9:30 pm in box 4 and roosted for the night, hope it finds a mate and stays.
May 22 - Intruder!
Intruder in box 2 in the morning spent a couple of hours locked in combat with a resident whilst the other resident was on the nest. Eventually it managed to evict the resident bird, meanwhile a 2nd egg had been laid! Later in the day, both eggs were ejected from the box.
Also a new bird arrived in box 3 (which may well be the evicted bird). So now we have 3 pairs, 1 single but only 2 eggs in box5.
May 21 - And again!
A 2nd egg for box5.
May 20 - Another egg!
Second egg of the season in box 2.
May 19 - First egg of the season!
Box 5 pair stayed in nest until 11am then they flew leaving our first egg! (see here). Also, the single in box 1 has gained a mate although it does not yet roost in the box, so it's 3 pairs now.
May 18 - In
We now have a single bird in box 1 again.
May 16 - In & out
After 1 bird in box 2 not roosting at night a couple of times, it now seems settled but the single bird in box 1 seems to have gone.
May 10 - Arrival
Single bird arrived around 9 pm in box 1, now have 2 pairs and 1 single.
May 8 - Second pair
Box 2 partner arrived early evening.
May 6 - Third bird
Not sure if the new arrival is in box 2 or box 5 as the pair in 5 were squabbling for a while before settling down together for the night, either way we have our 3rd bird of the season and 2 boxes on the go.
May 5 - First pair
Partner arrived around 5:30 am in box 5, but turns out this was the bird in box 1, just took a few days for them to get together!
April 30 - First birds of the season
Single birds arrive in boxes 1 & 5, around 8pm.