There's
that noise again!
Again
he leaves - this time for some while.
Some
time later, Fluffy reappears and eventually comes down to nest cup level.
She
fusses the chicks for a bit ...
...
and about 30 seconds later, she leaves the nest box too.
The chicks are still looking remarkably subdued. When we saw this sequence on the television with the sound on, you could hear that Barney made warning noises which made the chicks crouch down in the nest cup. The effect of this clearly takes some time to wear off!
We
have been wondering how much longer Fluffy would roost with the chicks
overnight. This shot is the last one of Fluffy leaving the nest
box. It is still quite early - about a quarter past eight.
Clearly she has had enough of their wriggling and intends to roost elsewhere tonight.
Just
to be sure, we turned the lights on again for a couple of seconds at about a
quarter to ten.
The chicks are alone at night for the first time in their short lives!