As promised just one final post, obviously ‘The Last Post’, to conclude the Great Tit Nest blog for 2020.
The nest remains empty and the adults and chicks are now out and about. I have seen them, and more often heard them, during the day in the garden. At one point the adult was feeding one of the chicks from a fat ball on the bird feeder. All good signs that things are progressing well. The weather promises to be nice for the next week so I think that they will have every chance.
With the fledging I have been able to complete my table below, the first year for which I have all the info. A scientific upside to staying at home.
In the end the chicks fledged 22 days after the first, and 20 days after the last chicks hatched. I will make sure to clean out the box over the winter and now hopefully it will be in regular annual use.
I had a look at the inside of the box today, pictured below.
I removed the nest material and had a prod around just to see if there were any traces of the two unhatched eggs. I confirm that they were nowhere to be seen. I last saw one of the eggs intact on Day 46 so I assume that since then they must have been crushed and the contents eaten. It happens.
So that is the end of the Great Tit Nest Blog 2020. I do have some other nature projects under preparation, one of which is a Hedgehog box with a nesting compartment. So if you are interested stay subscribed to the blog and I may post some news as and when it arrives.
Many thanks to you all for following and for your always lovely comments. It’s been a real pleasure for me to be able to share the story with you.
To go back and relive everything from day 1 check out the full daily Nesting Log at Great Tit Nesting Log – 2020.
I’ll finish with a slideshow of the nest Box photos from Day 1 to 56, the full story in under 2 minutes.
Chatou Nature Blog 
James, it has been a privilege and such a joy to watch the chicks grow ~ and even some sitting on the edge of your seat stuff with the Big Bad Jay!!! So thank you, thank you, thank you for taking the time to put everything together and share your videos ~ I have loved reading your daily Blog too.
As Emma said, it is a shame that we are not having a summer fair as YOU would be our famous nature hero to cut the ribbon!! The children and grown ups will miss Spring Watch with Mr Matthews, which has definitely become the highlight of the day for many and not just in Year 1 ~ your efforts have really brought so much joy into our lives so if you wanted to make something up we would be delighted!!! (stuffed toy animals in the hedgerow??)
I am so glad that the chicks all ‘made it’ but was also very sad to see your title The Last Post 😦
Thanks again,
Your no. 1 fans ~ Year One!! (and me, the one before number one!!!)
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Thanks Jo. You are indeed the number one fan. Thanks for your lovely feedback, I’m glad you have enjoyed it and it has been useful for you in school.
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Thank you so much for documenting this wonder of nature. Ruth and I loved to read about every morning at breakfast about the development of the day before – a tradition that was very much appreciated during the confinement. See you again for another chapter in 2021!
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Thanks to you both Andreas. I’m really glad you enjoyed it.
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