While
Kelly is out of the nest disposing of the eggshell - and getting something
to eat herself if she has any sense at all - back comes Boris with another
caterpillar.
He
tries to feed the chicks, but like most males with their newly born/hatched
offspring, he doesn't seem to be able to manage it very well. It looks
as though he can't tell the difference between an egg and a chick!
Poor Boris - poor chicks!
He's
still trying to find something to feed! You can just see the tiny
caterpillar, but none of them seem to want it - they are probably all too
exhausted by the struggle of getting out of their eggs.
Eventually
Kelly comes back and persuades Boris to let her deal with it!
It's
now 20 minutes later. Boris has been foraging enthusiastically and
between 6.30am and 7.30am he came in with food 37 times!
Here's
Boris again trying to feed the chicks - it's quite amusing to see him come
in with food when Kelly is sitting on the nest. He clearly wants to
feed them himself and hops around the nest cup trying to find a gap.
Usually Kelly sits tight and eventually Boris gives in and passes the
caterpillar to her.
Sometimes, however, she relents and moves aside so that he can try to feed them himself.
Another
piece of eggshell (it's now a quarter past eight).
This
is the other half.
This,
at just before 10 o'clock, is another piece of eggshell.
This
picture was taken at half past three and shows that there are still two
unhatched eggs. We hope that these will hatch sometime soon!
Boris still seems pretty hopeless at feeding them - I hope he doesn't get put off trying!