Last year we used a caged feeder on an old table outside the kitchen
window, and as this is only accessible to bluetits, we are using it again
now. Today Barney and Fluffy appeared on the cotoneaster by the
study window, so Elizabeth went immediately to collect some mealworms to put
into this exclusive feeder. By the time she went outside they were in
the nearby hedge, waiting for her – and this is round the corner from
where they first saw her!
Later in the day, when she had been away for some time, she took some mealworms out, and called “Fluffy, Fluffy” – and both the birds arrived within a few seconds.
This
is the normal early start for our bluetits. Today it was at 5.12am,
over an hour before we have arranged for the inside light to be turned on by
an automatic time-switch.
Again, as usual, it looks as though Fluffy has a faecal sac in her beak.
We
think, from what is shown later, that this is a race for the entrance hole.
Although
Fluffy has clearly got there first, Barney is not very far behind.
However,
she makes way for him to enter the box first!
Fluffy
with her 7 chicks. Five mouths are clearly visible and the other two
can just be seen as two yellow gashes above the central gape.
With
so much traffic into and out of the box, clashes are inevitable. Here
Fluffy wants to enter, but Barney wants to leave!
Again,
it is Fluffy who gives way, letting Barney fly off before she enters.