The Chicks Have Flown

The little Chaffinch Chicks gave me a small window of opportunity for a photo shoot before they flew the nest.

I cannot be sure when they left but the nest is definitely empty.

I'm sorry that we didn't get to see them fledge but I suppose it was never going to happen while we were pottering about.

We are still seeing Mum and Dad about so I'm guessing they have taken their young to a more densely leafed tree to continue their upbringing.

I read that Chaffinches will nest twice in a year and we wondered if they would return to this nest. However, either Mum or another Chaffinch has been visiting the nest and appears to be dismantling it? Or maybe Mum left something behind that she needed?

Meanwhile, the House Martins have been casing our joint over the past few days. They nested under our eaves last year but they don't seem to have made up their mind yet. We have new fascias and soffits so maybe that is putting them off?

Chaffinches

One morning in mid-April we watched a chaffinch nest being built in a tree close to our house. We thought that Mr & Mrs Chaffinch were building but it turns out that only the female builds the nest.

It's very impressive.
If you didn't know it was there you wouldn't see it.
You may need to click on the photograph to confirm that it is actually there, just in the right hand fork of the tree.

We have kept peeking at the nest and just yesterday noticed that Mrs.
Chaffinch is indeed sitting on the nest. Again, you may need to click on the photo to see her peeking out.
Beneath her, hopefully, will be a clutch of 4 or 5 eggs which will take 11 - 13 days to incubate.


I hesitated in posting this news because the last time I shared a nest things didn't turn out very well and the nest was abandoned.
Fingers crossed for Mr & Mrs Chaffinch.