Grow Your Own Magazine

I've just built a small wildlife pond and spotted a blackbird having a drink. After watching it for a while it disappeared through a small hole in the corner of my tumbledown shed/greenhouse.
On closer investigation it's built a rather grand nest in the eaves and I'm sure there was some movement in it........chicks hopefully. I've been trying to stay away from the shed all day as I don't want to spook it and the blackbird seems to be playing hide and seek with me on the allotment.

I think it's probably going in through a gap in the side........feeding it's chicks, and flying out through the open window in the greenhouse.

I feel honoured as well as privileged it's chosen my hut to nest in!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

That's wonderful news Snadger!
Birds are so funny about where they choose to nesst aren't they...they seem to find many wierd and wonderful hidey holes!

Good luck with them, I hope they all come through.......get digging all those worms out!!

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Always aim for the best result possible not the best possible result

Whoo - you're a Grandad! I hope they eat all your pests.

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated October 12th

Lovely! Do you get scolded or serenaded?

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Happy Gardening,
Shirley

http://www.honeyjukes.co.uk

Well, there appears to be three huge chicks in the nest. I always think of chicks squarking for food but as soon as I enter the shed there is no movement and no noise......even though I've bumped into the parents now and again!
I aint no ornathologist but I would imagine this demeanour has evolved/ ie noisy moving chicks get eaten by predators whereas still quite chicks live to perpetuate the species!
Anyone know,do both blackbird parents administer to the young as I'm sure I've seen him and her at the nest?Also once they've gone, would they use the same nest again next year?

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

There was a lovely short film on BBC Scotland news some time ago of a pair of blackbirds who had built a nest in a couple's bathroom and happily flew back and forwards through the open window to feed their chicks. I have kept it on the hard disk recorder. Our blackbirds never use a nest site more than once.

hi snadger

well done on the nest, yes mum and dad feed to begin with and then its just mum, i believe...i lost my 2 big chicks in the conifer by my kitchen i was so gutted, one minute alive, the next dead and no sign of mum or dad anymore, if i find someone around here using slug pellets in their garden and thats what killed my blackbirds i will be well upset lol!

i hope they grow big and strong

SS

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

We are so lucky in that we have hoards of birds visiting the garden. They come so often they have aquired nicknames. The blackbirds and thrushes are the cheeky birds as they take absolutely no notice of our comings and goings whatsoever and serenade and scold us in equal measure. They also come down to the patio doors if we are late with our offerings. The hit squad are all the little finches (blue tits, chaffinches, etc) who hit and run on the bugs. The gangstas are the starlings who come down and strut in a kind of youthful arrogant way and squabble over the food. Then there are the undertakers, the carrion birds that come and tidy up. All terribly fascinating. I'm sure we've had more since we began to garden organically and feed throughout the winter. Enjoy your birds while they're there and maybe if you offer food and security, they'll come back.

I have just put in one of my butler sinks to make a pond and it is already filling up with rainwater. I have two blackbirds that visit all the time, one has a broken leg hence his name Broken Leg the other is called Broken Wing. They have already started to bathe and drink. The friendly robin is called George who sits on the compost bin when i am digging. Maybe birds will nest when i have eventually got my shed up.

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good Diggin, Chuffa.

The do learn to keep quiet from an early age Snadger. Last year, Mr Flum was cutting our hedge in June after having checked that there were no active nest in there. He was making his way along with this massive hedge trimmer when he noticed only a couple of feet ahead of him, a little pair of eyes watching him. When the young are first fledged, the parents stash them in various 'safe' places - one is usually under my bay tree outside the back door - and take food to them for a few more days till they are better at flying. This little chap had been plonked in the hedge my Mum or Dad and told to behave while they went off for food. Himself did all the hedge but the last couple of feet until next day, when Young'un had gone.

Both parents feed the young too. They are very attentive parents. By the end of the season, when they can have raised 3 broods sometimes, they both look really raddled and disappear for a few weeks. They usually come to the back door for scraps but not at this time. They must be out building up their strength somewhere! Endlessly fascinating, birds.

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated October 12th

What a lovely heart warming thread to read, thank you all!
Snadger- good luck with the family!

Would they raise three broods in the same nest Flum? The reason I ask is that I was hoping to repair my shed.........but if they will raise more young, sod it, the shed can wait!
The chicks are quite large now and you've answereed the question I had about the next stage ie how do they ready them for the big wide world outside! I have no hedges so wonder where they will billet the young at the fledgeling stage?
As you say facinating and wonderful!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Just an update my three babies have now flown off.......well at least two of them have!
The other was sitting on the staging of my greenhouse which is ajoined to the shed the nest is in. He/she eventually managed to find their way out the open door with the help of mother blackbirds scolding!
Unfortunately he/she flew into the open door of my other greenhouse!

I could hear mum calling for him (I've decided he's a him now!) and he kept tring to escape but kept flying into the glass poor thing. With the help of Mums scolding and me crawling on the floor trying to capture him, between us we managed to get him back into the shed and shut the door. Now Mum can get to him and show him the way out and he can get a drink in the mean time cos by that time I had splashed water all over whilst watering my plants.

It will be a couple of days before I get back to lottie so hopefully Mum will have him fully fledged by then!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Glad you've got your very own blackbirds Snadger.
TIP - when you're trying to capture a bird that's trapped indoors, use a towel (or your Tshirt) like a net, and throw it over it. Much easier than trying to catch it in your hands and safer for the bird.
And blackbirds love a bath. If you put out a tray of water they'll come for drinks and climb in for baths. Enjoy !

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

Thanks Alice! they have there own private swimming pool which I've just built for them in the shape of an old bath I sunk into the land. It's right next door to the shed they have the nest in and theres even a ramp with a shallow end!
They've got it made methinks, with a second story condo (nest in rafters), private swimming pool and a blackbird megastore in the shape of an allotment all around them, full of nice stuff to eat!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

Blackbirds rear 2-3 broods a year; the breeding season lasts from early March to late June. In a good year, 4th broods may be attempted. Weather determines the timing of the breeding season.

Warm or cold spells in spring can bring the breeding season forward or delay it by several days. Dry weather in June can shorten the season and even cause starvation of late broods (as caterpillars and worms disappear).

The nest, built by the female, is low down in any suitable cover. Trees, shrubs and climbers are preferred, but nests can be found inside buildings, occasionally even on the ground. The nest is a substantial cup of grass, straw, small twigs and other plant material. It is plastered inside with mud and lined with fine grass. It can take two weeks to complete, and sometimes the same nest is used for successive broods.
The normal clutch size is 3-5. The female incubates alone, and the chicks hatch 13-14 days later. Only the female broods the chicks, but both parents feed them. Chicks in gardens are fed on earthworms when they are available; woodland chicks are fed mainly on caterpillars.

The chicks are ready to fledge at 13-14 days, but if the nest is disturbed, they can leave and survive as early as nine days old. This ability to fledge early is an important anti-predator adaptation. The young birds creep and flutter from the nest, and remain in nearby cover for the following few days.

They are flightless at first, but within a week will have learned to fly. By this time, they begin to experiment with foods, learning by trial and error what is edible. As their skills and confidence grow, they begin to explore their parents' territory and range more widely. The young become independent three weeks after leaving the nest, and leave the natal area shortly after. They are not driven away by the male.

Fledged young are often left in the care of the male, while the female prepares for the next nesting attempt. The last brood of the season is usually divided between the parents, with each adult taking sole care of some of the young.

There are considerable losses at the egg and chick stage, with at best 30-40% of nests producing fledged young. Despite smaller clutch sizes, birds in towns fledge more chicks per nest than birds in the countryside. The RSPB: Blackbird: Breeding

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

Thanks TS! I think I'll turn my allotment into a blackbird sanctuary!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)