merylt
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by merylt on May 9, 2019 9:22:19 GMT
What I wonder is how many birds reuse the old nest for their 2nd brood? What Benn was saying about the RSPB feeling it would be a different female laying seems strange. They spend such a while deciding on a nest site, I think it would be weird for a new female to be prepared to lay in a used nest (especially like ours with 2 unhatched eggs from the first brood tucked somewhere in the layers). We had a late nest in July a few years ago but the box hadn't been used earlier in the year and the female built from scratch. Will be interesting to see how many eggs she lays this time and how many are viable.
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Post by blueeyedchick on May 9, 2019 9:34:02 GMT
What I do know Meryl from past family nests is that they have no quarms about building on top of old nests probably because of the effort it takes to remove it in bits if it's in an artificial nest box. This wastes time and energy which could be used for egg production. I think they may like Beechnut's just re-jig it. Trying to think like a bird and not a human.What the percentage is I don't know not sure if any research has been done on this
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Post by YorksherLass on May 9, 2019 13:19:00 GMT
Crikey - two broods from both of you! I found out from Paul that this could happen with GT's, so is there anybody else on here who also has GT's besides you two & me? Only one brood from mine last year & the year before & I'm still in the dark as to what my lot are doing in the nest box now.
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Post by Beechnut on May 9, 2019 18:45:31 GMT
I don't think that I've had two broods in the same box before Diane - I've had a nest at a later date in another box, but never a new brood immediately on an 'old' nest.
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merylt
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by merylt on May 9, 2019 19:17:04 GMT
Same here. Have not had a bird even look in the box after the chicks have fledged for the rest of the year. I found someone on another forum wrote from 2009 and had the same thing happen and the female laid 2 eggs on the same day after the chicks had fledged. Must be more common than we think but people don't log or collate their research in one place so difficult to find out more.
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Post by elle on May 9, 2019 21:18:34 GMT
Wow Meryl, this is fantastic Your so lucky yahoo_clap cant wait to see how many she lays this time round Isn’t it strange how Beechnut and yourself had small clutches first, then to go on again. Brilliant Elle xx
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Post by Beechnut on May 12, 2019 7:17:38 GMT
How's it going Meryl? Has she finished laying yet?
Tuppence started incubating 5 eggs yesterday.
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Post by sammi on May 12, 2019 8:33:08 GMT
This is great news Meryl and like you say pretty unusual. It is nice to get these surprises
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merylt
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by merylt on May 12, 2019 11:06:40 GMT
How's it going Meryl? Has she finished laying yet? Tuppence started incubating 5 eggs yesterday. Hi. Ours we think has laid a 5th egg this morning although she has covered them up so can't see clearly. She is out of the nest and hasn't been back which suggests she hasn't finished laying. We see the parents regularly on the feeder and can hear the fledgies in the yew tree and can see the parents flying with mealworms to them but they are too high up to see. I bang the plastic box when I put the mealworms out and they all seem to realise and then we get a flurry of action from the robins (who have 2 fledgies we've seen) and several other pairs of blue tits and another great tit pair which our male tries to drive off the feeder. I am debating whether to continue with the larger mealworms and order more as I don't them to start trying to find food further afield and forget about our feeder. An expensive business though..and double trouble this year it seems!
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Post by Beechnut on May 12, 2019 16:27:14 GMT
Hope for yours to beat the 5 mark then Meryl.
It is a bit of a quandry with the mealworms, I am buying regular at the moment, but will get some minis when (or if) the hatching is due - "many a slip...."
The fledglings are mainly in elderberry and hawthorn bushes at the bottom of the garden at the side of a public footpath and Tommy is using both of my feeders to keep them satisfied, and I did see him feed at least one in the conifer hedge at the side of the garden today. Tuppence is leaving the nest for very short periods more often than normal during incubation, so I believe she is also putting in her two pennyworth (HaHa) towards the upbringing of her chicks.
Hope all goes well for you.
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merylt
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by merylt on May 12, 2019 16:33:43 GMT
Mrs GT has started brooding them at 5pm. Same as you - five eggs like before. Have ordered another 2kg of mealworms. Saw a female fledgie being fed in the tree above the feeder this afternoon. Also ordered 24 jars of flutter butter as we can see blue tits flying back and forth from our front garden feeder across the road and round the house opposite with beakfuls of the butter. Had to put in a squirrel proof cage to stop the starlings who were eating a jar a day! i.postimg.cc/ZKvnkkF1/2nd-brood-5-eggs.png
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Post by Beechnut on May 12, 2019 17:00:37 GMT
~~~~~ SPOOKY ~~~~~
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merylt
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by merylt on May 13, 2019 11:02:35 GMT
This morning the female has barely been in the nest. She has come in a couple of times and put fluff over the eggs. I wonder whether she was just resting yesterday rather than starting brooding. Couldn't see another egg this morning as they were covered but unusual to not be sitting on them more if she's finished laying. Will be keeping a close look during the day!
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Post by suep on May 13, 2019 12:48:18 GMT
Wish we understood the goings on of these birds Meryl. Sometime I even wonder if they know what they are doing. Hope all works out ok. Sue
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merylt
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by merylt on May 13, 2019 12:48:47 GMT
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Post by Beechnut on May 13, 2019 14:50:00 GMT
Good for you Meryl - is she sitting now or is there more to come?
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Post by suep on May 13, 2019 14:53:02 GMT
Wow, what a brilliant surprise yahoo_clap . Fantastic news. Sue
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merylt
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by merylt on May 13, 2019 18:55:01 GMT
She has been in and out all day. Off the eggs for a large amount of the day but roosting now. Could be another to come tomorrow perhaps?
I think we're feeding the whole neighbourhood bird population. I put the mealworms out and within seconds there are birds from every direction, pretty much continuously until empty.
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Post by elle on May 13, 2019 20:12:56 GMT
Meryl, glad to hear you’ve got another batch of eggs icon_biggrin Have you not got a ‘Scott feeder’ for your mealworms, they can work out a bit expensive, especially if your feeding all the neighbourhood birds! can i ask what ‘flutter butter’ is? I have never heard of it! Elle xx
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Post by suep on May 13, 2019 20:40:21 GMT
So glad you asked about the flutter butter Elle, I didn’t want to look stupid as I didn’t know what it was either. Sue
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merylt
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by merylt on May 13, 2019 23:16:37 GMT
Hi. Flutter butter is peanut butter for birds. Comes in jam jars which screw into a plastic holder - plain, with insects or with fruit. The birds love them! I do have a caged mealworm feeder which keeps out the bigger birds like the starlings but the ones I'm getting feeding on them are great tits, blue tits, robins and coal tits.
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merylt
Junior Member
Posts: 57
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Post by merylt on May 14, 2019 7:26:59 GMT
We have 7 eggs this morning!
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Post by suep on May 14, 2019 8:06:27 GMT
Fantastic Meryl, great number. Thanks for info of flutter butter, will look out for it come winter, sounds perfect for then. I have a caged feeder that lets in sparrows, robins etc, but I use the Scott feeder as well as only blue tits or smaller can get in. Mind you they haven’t used it yet . Sue
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Post by WildlifePaul on May 14, 2019 9:23:33 GMT
Great number for your second brood!
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Post by Beechnut on May 14, 2019 10:59:41 GMT
She's doing really well Meryl - obviously knows that there won't be a problem with feeding the chicks. icon_biggrin
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