Getting Kids out of Bed

It's been a joy having blue tits raising their chicks in our garden nesting box and the last couple of weeks have involved non-stop, too-and-fro feeding by both adults throughout daylight hours. I can hear the sounds of the chicks whenever an adult goes into the box.

Yesterday a new routine began. One of the adults returned from the bushes with a huge grub, much bigger than the small insects that have constituted food so far. The adult (not sure if it was male or female, hard to tell with blue tits) then perched at the nest-box hole and I saw a huge hungry mouth rise up to be fed. Then the adult flew off and perched nearby, calling and grub-dangling.

This is the same technique as getting teenage kids to wake up before lunch - fry bacon and put on loud music.

There are still at least two refusachicks (sorry) waiting in the nesting box for the tit equivalent of pizza in bed but the parents seems pretty well into their routine. I'll let you know.