with a happy ending. Well, pair of Redstart actually. Female pitched up on 02 May and immediately started nest building at a site used succesfully by possibly the same pair last year.
I never saw a male till the end of the month but he had been seen by others and I got occasional views of the female entering the nest but never leaving.
On Saturday 23rd May the female was still on eggs but fairly active around the nest and by mid week the male appeared but tended to stay around the nest while the female fed. I still only ever saw the female enter the nest and then realised she was popping out of another hole to sit above the nest site before flying off. By 8th June both birds were bringing food regularly and were very alert, bobbing constantly when they realised I was watching from some fifty meters!
On Thursday evening last, activity was frenetic as the warm wet weather provided an abundance of food but on the Friday things were very quite with only a glimpse of an adult flycatching. Couldn't check the site Saturday so this morning first thing, made a point of heading straight there. Nest site was quiet and I thought like last year I was to be left unsure as to the final outcome (although when the weeds cleared sufficiently for me to check the nest later in the year, it was clean and undamaged). Walked further on up the lane and some tac tacing like Wrens came from two locations to my right and In front of me a sudden flash of red as a bird crossed the lane. It landed on a branch and turned...black head, white flash and red breast, the male... chit chit chit scolded me for disturbing his parenting and flew off back to the nest area where he collected more flies and returned to the bushes to feed at least three young. Hopefully the female is nearby with more I thought but left them to get on with it in peace.
I never saw a male till the end of the month but he had been seen by others and I got occasional views of the female entering the nest but never leaving.
On Saturday 23rd May the female was still on eggs but fairly active around the nest and by mid week the male appeared but tended to stay around the nest while the female fed. I still only ever saw the female enter the nest and then realised she was popping out of another hole to sit above the nest site before flying off. By 8th June both birds were bringing food regularly and were very alert, bobbing constantly when they realised I was watching from some fifty meters!
On Thursday evening last, activity was frenetic as the warm wet weather provided an abundance of food but on the Friday things were very quite with only a glimpse of an adult flycatching. Couldn't check the site Saturday so this morning first thing, made a point of heading straight there. Nest site was quiet and I thought like last year I was to be left unsure as to the final outcome (although when the weeds cleared sufficiently for me to check the nest later in the year, it was clean and undamaged). Walked further on up the lane and some tac tacing like Wrens came from two locations to my right and In front of me a sudden flash of red as a bird crossed the lane. It landed on a branch and turned...black head, white flash and red breast, the male... chit chit chit scolded me for disturbing his parenting and flew off back to the nest area where he collected more flies and returned to the bushes to feed at least three young. Hopefully the female is nearby with more I thought but left them to get on with it in peace.
Sorry for the duff picture as I've just realised that all the shots I've taken identify the nest site......bugger
No comments:
Post a Comment