It is just over a week now since
the bluetit laid her last egg, counting nine in total. For the last week she
has spent a lot more time at the nest keeping the eggs incubated and only
leaves the nest to feed. Initially the male was going into the box to feed the
female, but it has become apparent that the male calls for the female to leave
the box so that he can feed her outside. On occasion the pair have been seen
flying off together, but she never goes far as she will only leave the nest for
a short period of time.
The other day we had a sparrow
hawk land in the tree whilst the bluetit was out and about. Under normal
circumstances we would admire such a bird. However, we have become protective
of our blue tit and we quickly made some commotion in the garden that sent the
bird on its way. After all she’s part of the family now and we couldn’t let
anything happen to her.
I found out that during the
incubation time the female plucks out her own feathers to line the nest. This
was proven to be the case as the nest has become more snug and soft looking. I
assume that that this is to help incubate the eggs and keep the fledglings warm
when they hatch. I think there is an incubation period of 12-16 days, this
would mean that come the weekend we could have the first of the bluetits
starting to hatch.
