It's
the start of another day and as usual, Boris is bringing some food to the
nest.
Sometimes,
as on this occasion, Boris doesn't want to give the food to Kelly, but wants
to feed the chicks himself. You can often see the tussle between
them. If Kelly sits tight, Boris can't get to the chicks to feed them
and eventually he will have to pass the food to her.
This time, Kelly moves aside so that Boris can do the honours himself.
This
time Boris has come into the nest when Kelly is away. He is quite an
adept now and has no problem in getting one of the chicks to take his
morsel.
But
how many chicks are there? To be honest, we still don't know!
Here is a definite 5 beaks, 4 of them open in expectation as Kelly comes
into the nest box.
In
spite of the fact that Kelly is covering part of the nest cup, you can again
see 5 gapes. We think there are probably 6 chicks but we will have to
be patient and wait until they are bigger before we can be sure!
Earlier
I said that Boris was getting adept at feeding the chicks. In fact he
is more than that, he is a master! In this picture you can see Kelly
leaving the nest in the early afternoon.
Quick
as a flash, Boris is in with some food!
Less
than a minute later and he is back again.
Kelly
was away from the nest only 12 minutes. During that time Boris came in
8 times with food for the chicks, sometimes his visits were only 30 seconds
apart!
Twelve
minutes later, Kelly returns.