Our young swiftlets in Box 3 are still with us, but they're getting restless now. Here's a picture of one of them looking down through the box entrance, planning it's escape route no doubt!
And here are the pair in Box 1, they're having a bit of a lie-in on this rather dull morning!
Another update on our two swift families. The new pair who have taken up residence in Box 1 have been busy furnishing their new home. In fact they have laid a ‘carpet’ of feathers as can be seen in this photo:
And in the video below you can see that one of the pair is re-arranging the ‘carpet’ into a nest of sorts and sticking down the loose feathers. They definitely look like they’re in for the long haul and will be back next year!
Meanwhile, in Box 3 the youngsters continue to grow. Unfortunately there has been no more sign of anyone visiting Box 6 which is disappointing.
Here’s the latest video of our young swifts in Box 3. This time one of them is doing ‘press-ups’ in readiness for fledging, which we estimate should be around 30th July, so a little while to go yet. But look more carefully and you will see that there are only two youngsters in the nest now....
We don’t know what’s happened to the third one. Everything was fine last time we looked which was only a day or so ago. We’ve checked the gutters below and around the nest box, and also the ground and garden in general and there’s no sign at all. So we are completely baffled as it was very much alive and well before. It’s possible that it’s still in the box, in the corner underneath the camera but of course we’re unable to see without disturbing the other birds, so we’ll just have to wait and see if it does reappear.
The second video shows the parent bird coming in to feed and the absolute pandemonium in the box as the two youngsters compete for attention!
On a good note, the pair in Box 1 are well settled now, and laid another egg which will go to waste but at least they’re trying. And Box 6 has had prospectors this morning, with one taking up residence for a while so we are hopeful that maybe it will visit again with a partner. Apologies but I can't figure out how to get rid of the pink "tart's boudoir" effect in Box 6, but never mind, you can see that the visitor is having a good look around this very desireable home!
A quick update on our little family in Box 3. As in previous years, one of the parents has now stopped coming into the box and roosting with the youngsters or visiting during the day so the three young are now being looked after by a single parent. Again. Has the other parent been taken by a predator, or has it simply got fed up with bawling kids? We think the missing parent is our 'Stumpy' as the remaining one has a full tail. Anyway, they're growing well now and looking fit and healthy, here's the latest video:
Here’s another video of our growing family of young swifts in Box 3 - not much to see here as they’re having a nap.
Meanwhile, in box 1 there has been a development - a few feathers have been fashioned into half a nest and the pair are obviously having a trial run because there’s now an egg in the corner. As per usual with first year birds nothing will come of this but we’re hopeful that next year they will come back and do it properly!
