Grow Your Own Magazine

We have a small conifer in the garden, not far up from my kitchen window and I have been eagerly watching Mrs Blackbird go and feed her babies.... well, today i havent seen her and i havent heard the chicks either, so i went to investigate and they have died.................

I feel totally gutted, poor little things, they were quite big as well, my hubby is gonna remove the nest so that another bird can start next time, is this a good idea?

SS

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Gardening - A labour of love that begins with daybreak and ends with backache!
http://clarkiesveggieblog.blogspot.com/

Might be for the best to remove the nest, in case there's any form of 'infection'? Can you tell what the babies died of, are the parents still around?

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

What a shame, I would be gutted too. Maybe something happened to the parents and the babies died from starvation?

thanks, i havent seen mum around, so she may have been murdered!! boo hoo!!

I live on the back of some fields inhabited by badgers, foxes and lots and lots of other creatures, so perhaps she was got at, i think the cat a few doors down may have something to do with it and if i get hold of it i will do one on it!

SS

__________________
Gardening - A labour of love that begins with daybreak and ends with backache!
http://clarkiesveggieblog.blogspot.com/

It would seem more likely you haven't seen the parents because the babies died?

__________________
Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

Would be interesting to know why the babies died Squashsue. Were they fed with something poisoned. Yes, I would remove the old nest etc. What a shame, but sadly they don't all make it. The blackies will be on their way to their next brood. Gluttons for punishment.

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From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.

What like, maybe something that had been killed using slug pellets?

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

the nest has been removed and the chicks were quite large, i heard them really squawking two days ago, so perhaps mum has had an accident and they were really hungry.

One thing for sure is, i dont use slug pellets at all, i got beer traps and netting, a torch and some gloves, i have a lot of wildlife and dont want the hogs to get poorly........but there could be another gardener using them, unfortunately i cant stop them, or perhaps i could...........now where did i put the 12 bore shot gun lol!!

__________________
Gardening - A labour of love that begins with daybreak and ends with backache!
http://clarkiesveggieblog.blogspot.com/

Mr Blackie too? They both feed chicks.

__________________
Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

Thanks Manda, i didnt know that, perhaps they were poisoned them, hopefully next year some more will nest and i can keep an eye on them, i have great, blue and yellow tits in my garden as well as two robins (one fat and one thin - though not at the same time).

I would love some bird boxes, but no big trees, well until my apple tree grows in a few years, only just planted it!

Hey ho - life and death, so sad really

__________________
Gardening - A labour of love that begins with daybreak and ends with backache!
http://clarkiesveggieblog.blogspot.com/

I've just checked my Birdwatchers Handbook and it says 'young fed by parents for 2-3 weeks (by male if female is starting another clutch)'.

Haven't you got a suitable wall or fence to put a tit nestbox on?

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Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."

hi high would it need to be manda, as we got some extra large cats around here!! as we back onto lovely green fields with lots of choice of trees, i think they may prefer it out in the open.

The chicks were older than 3 weeks, they were pretty big and mum had been going back and forth for a while now,or even dad.

I have a shed at the bottom of the garden so may get some tit boxes for that and give it a go, it will be pretty secluded there, so may give it a go,

thanks for your help and advise.

SS

__________________
Gardening - A labour of love that begins with daybreak and ends with backache!
http://clarkiesveggieblog.blogspot.com/

Did you see maria's 'safe' tit nestbox plans?

Blue And Great Tits



Hole diameter:
*26 mm mésange bleue (blue tits)
*32 mm mésange charbonnière, rougegorges, rougequeues... (great tits, etc)

Here's a link to where you can site birdboxes, I've not included it so you buy their stuff, but so you can see where they put boxes up.

__________________
Manda.

"Wouldn't it be nice
For maybe an hour
To not have a care."