Day 47 - Tuesday 26th May 2015

Day 46 - Monday 25th May 2015

Nearly ready to leave the box, but hopefully they will stay another day.

Plenty of Magpies on the prowl as there are a lot of young fledgelings in the garden.

A Sparrowhawk was seen early this evening, so best stay tucked up inside the nest box boys.

Day 45 - Sunday 24th May 2015

Another beautiful day here in South East London, and Fred and chicks have been busy since 0500 this morning.  Fred seems remarkably strong despite the pressure he has been under since losing Freda.

The last couple of days he has displayed an aggressive streak at the feeding stations, chasing off Goldfinches and Sparrows if they were on the feeders he wanted to visit.  The fatherly instinct in him has really come to the fore, so once the chicks leave the box we're confident he will be doing his utmost to look after them.

More later....

Day 44 - Saturday 23rd May 2015

There's lots of wing stretching and moving about in the nest box this morning, which is a sure sign that the chicks are nearly ready to leave the box.

Fred has been in and out since 5.20 this morning, his usual time and everybody is doing fine.

Lots of garden activity today, with the Robins and Blackbirds taking away more mealworms, we think they both have second broods.

Fred and the chicks have another good day.

Day 43 - Friday 22nd May 2015

Fred has managed another great day today, and the chicks are all beginning to spread their wings literally.

Lots of movement in the nest box, and one of the chicks is gingerly making his way towards the entrance hole.

Proud Father

Day 42 - Thursday 21st May 2015

For some reason the chicks decided to move out of sight of the camera late today, and it was difficult to see what was happening. Perhaps I should pay them a bit more to stay in focus.

It looked for some time as though there were only two chicks but, at 8 o'clock tonight all three of them appeared on camera. Phew!  We don't really want anything going wrong having come so far with only one parent.  They are certainly turning into three little characters.

Fred is still looking very strong, having started work just after 5am this morning, and is still going strong as I type this at 20.00

I will try and get an outside camera rigged up over the weekend and see if we can record them leaving the box from the outside.

Day 41 - Wednesday 20th May 2015

Another early start for Fred.  It's nice and sunny here in the South East and we live to fight another day.

Go Fred and the chicks!

Its just gone 7pm and it's nice and sunny. Fred has been busy all day long feeding the last 3 chicks.  Their eyes are now open eagerly await Fred's arrival with food.  

There's some wing stretching and flapping going on, which all indicates that there's only about 6 or 7 days left before they will want to venture out into the big wide world.  
 

All together now!

Day 40 - Tuesday 19th May 2015

Fred arrived at 0510 this morning with fresh food.  He spent some time trying to remove the dead chicks from the box.  He's trying to keep the nest box environment clean and tidy.

Day 39 - Monday 18th May 2015

Another good day for Fred and the three remaining chicks.  Although it started off wet here in the South East, the afternoon turned very warm and Fred was able to satisfy the appetites of those left in the box.

All credit to Fred, he's been working extremely hard to vary the food, including sunflower hearts, suet and caterpillars.

He even struggled last night to try and remove the bodies of the some of the dead chicks, but unfortunately the size of the hole in the box thwarted his attempts.

If it carries on as well as this, we should be on target for Bank Holiday Monday for the chicks to start thinking about leaving the box.

Their eyes are almost open, so it will be fun and games when they are.

Fred's shift today was 05.20 - 20.10 - 15 hours visiting with food approximately every three minutes.

Day 38 - Sunday 17th May 2015

Just three chicks left now.  One of them looks very much like a punk so we've named him Sid Snot.  The other two are Sansom and Gobby.  All chicks are very alert each time Fred comes back with food, so barring no mishaps with Fred we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Fred's first visit was at 05.02am this morning with some caterpillars.  He is still visiting with food at approximately two minute intervals.  A very daunting task.

We have also had a Greater Spotted Woodpecker in the garden recently, and although we generally welcome all birds, unfortunately he's not welcome at the moment.  They have a habit of destroying nest boxes and taking chicks, so we've moved the one feeder that attracts him to the other end of the garden, right away from the nest box.

Fred has enough on his plate at the moment, without any further distractions.

Day 37 - Saturday 16th May 2015

You've got to take your hat off to Fred, he's doing a grand job feeding the chicks on his own.

Last night he didn't stay in the box, which on reflection was probably a good thing for him as it meant that he would get a good nights rest in the trees elsewhere.  The chicks don't appear to be any worse off for it, and by 0520 this morning he was back fresh and bright with some juicy caterpillars for the young ones.

All this drama this week inevitably means we have had some casualties. After checking the nest box thoroughly today we can only see three chicks popping up each time Fred visits.  It was to be expected.

Of the three who are left, one of them is looking surprisingly strong and is continually trying to get out of the nest cup.  Hopefully he won't succeed just yet as the other two will help to keep him warm while they are all together.

We anticipate that Fred may have to keep this up for another week, and if there are still chicks left by next weekend they will be at the wing flapping stage, and ready to leave by about the Bank Holiday Monday.  We really hope so, as it will be a great tribute to Fred's tenacity.

I've done some research on this, and losing one parent is not uncommon, and broods have been raised successfully by single parents, but at a cost obviously.

If Fred can pull this off, we will give him one of the best chippy suppers money can buy and thrown in some curry sauce too.

 

Three remaining chicks

More later.....

Day 36 - Friday May 15th 2015

Freda didn't return at all yesterday, so we will have to consider her gone for whatever reason.

On the positive side, Fred worked hard all day bringing food to the chicks. Starting at just after 0600 and finishing just after 2000, and then to the amazement of everybody he settled down in the next box.

This is something usually only the female will do at night, but Fred is clearly a good parent.

He has already started feeding at 0520 this morning, so we'll see how the day pans out.

15:00 update.
Fred has been steadily backwards and forwards all day so far, and although he appears a bit bedraggled is doing a marvellous job.

The chicks eyes will soon be open, and they are starting to acquire a feather down to cover them.  This will be a great help especially at night when it's cold. We can only see four chicks each time Fred arrives, but we'll try and have a good count over the weekend.  Considering the circumstances it's going fairly well.

Fred's job over the next week or so will become more and more demanding, and we anticipate if he can keep up the pace that wings will start to flutter around 20th/21st May, and those who are left should leave the nest round about the May Bank holiday on 25th.

If we can get one to leave the nest safely this can be considered as a result.

Day 35 - Thursday 14th May 2015

Freda didn't return to the nest last night, and we fear we may have lost her.

She left about 8.30 and by darkness there was no sign of her.

Fred has returned this morning and is trying to feed the chicks, but without Freda he has an impossible task.

That's nature I'm afraid.

Day 33 - Tuesday 12th May 2015

Another busy day all round. Nice and sunny and plenty of food going in through the nestbox hole.

Day 34 - Wednesday 13th May 2015

Found a Woodpecker on the feeders this morning, and although they are usually quite welcome in the garden I had to chase this one away.  He was on the fat feeder which Fred and Freda are using to feed the chicks, and he presents a danger to the nest box as well.

Come back later Woody.

Day 32 - Monday 11th May 2015

The temperature is nice and warm here in the South East today.  The parents have been steadily feeding their chicks since 05.40am this morning.

We can see at least 7 chicks in the nest cup, and they are beginning to get their downy coat before their feathers start to appear.

They are being fed a mixture of smaller caterpillars, worms and quite a bit of the suet ball hanging in the garden, much to the annoyance of the local starling population.

They all seem to be coping well.

The chicks have almost doubled in size in the short time since they hatched.  Mum and Dad are doing a tremendous job.

Day 31 - Sunday 10th May 2015

Well, it's been a very hot day in South East London, and Fred and Freda have certainly had their work cut out feeding the ever demanding chicks.

We can see at least six constantly popping their heads up each time there's a visit from the parents. 

Fred and Freda are beginning to feel the strain a little, and Freda especially is looking a big ragged, but nevertheless they are both up for the challenge of raising their brood.

Day 30 - Saturday 9th May 2015

Here's a short video of Fred and Freda as they fed the chicks last night.  The worm they had brought in was too big so between them they managed to make it into manageable pieces for the chicks.

Teamwork at its best!

Day 29 - Friday 8th May 2015

Another day comes to a close and Fred and Freda have been admirable parents today. Each time Fred arrives with food he dutifully hands it to Freda to give to the chicks, a sort of quality control that appears to be.

He came back tonight with a rather large worm which took several goes before the chick could deal with it.

There was some fascinating footage today, and tomorrow I'll put a short video together of what went on.

Day 28 - Thursday 7th May 2015

Well, what a busy day for Fred and Freda.   I can't see the remaining egg today so I must assume that it hatched and Freda got rid of the evidence!

The overhead camera unfortunately is about to go off, but I can make out at least 7 chicks there.

I'll leave the side camera on as you can quite clearly see the chicks popping their heads up for head each time one of the parents arrives.   They are all in for a challenging few weeks until the chicks are ready to fledge. 

Day 27 - Wednesday 6th May 2015

At 5.40 this morning the first of the eggs started to hatch.  All day long Fred and Freda have been feeding the chicks as they hatch, and disposing of the egg shells by eating them.  This gives the birds some calcium and also does not give away the nest site.

The real work now begins for Fred and Freda, who will make up to 800 visits per day while the chicks grow and demand more and more food over the next couple of weeks.  The fledging time will be in approximately 14 days.

Day 26 - Tuesday 5th May 2015

Could this be the day?  We hope so, Freda is very restless but at least Fred is visiting more often now with food.

No sign of any chicks just yet.

Perhaps tomorrow.

Day 25 - Monday 4th May 2014

Day 12 of incubation and Freda is getting quite restless now, she is constantly shifting round on the eggs and turning them.  I don't think it's long now before we hear the patter of tiny feet in the nest box.

Day 24 - Sunday 3rd May 2015

A wet and overcast Sunday morning in South East London.  Fred has been with breakfast for Freda 4 or 5 times so far this morning, and she's been out and stretched her wings.

The Robin brought one of his chicks to the garden about 9am, and was fortunate enough to have the meal worm bowl all to themselves.  At least they'll have a good start to the day.

Day 23 - Saturday 2nd May 2015

Fred has upped his game today and has brought food for Freda at least four times before 7am this morning.  Offerings of small mealworms and caterpillars were on the menu, all gratefully taken by Freda.

We're about to enter the next phase of family life, and anticipate the first chick to hatch in the next few days.  When this happens I'll turn the video stream on.

Day 22 - Friday 1st May 2015

Fred was busy feeding Freda today, but it didn't look as if he was bringing enough food for her.  She has reprimanded him.