Sunday, 19 June 2016

Lost Blackbird Chicks

There are all manner of birds feeding young at the moment, but particularly noticeable has been a pair of blackbirds. With the wet weather we have been having, these birds have found little difficulty in finding lots of worms and could be seen almost constantly with beaks full of them. I was puzzled as to the location of the nest, but followed the hen bird up the side of the house and when she flew out of the wood store, the nest soon became apparent. However, there was very little cover for the nest and I was amazed that it had survived about three weeks without being detected by predators. Without disturbing the nest at all, I withdrew and soon discovered that it was observable from the dining room window. I planned to set up a camera the next day.
That evening, upon letting our dog into the garden in the late evening, he went wild, chasing around with his nose to the ground. That can only mean one thing: fox. The next morning the blackbird nest was empty! The chicks were a week short of fledging.

No comments:

Post a Comment