All Gone!

It's been 3 weeks since I last blogged about the Starling nest in the nestbox on my house, so here's an update.

The 4 chicks hatched on 4th June, and were ringed, by me, on 10th June.

Starling pullus

3 of the young survived to fledging, bringing the total to 8 from this box this year. They were still in the box on 19th June, including this adventurous individual.

19th June 2017

The birds fledged on 20th June (Thanks Lydia for the sightings), and spent a short while in the garden, before flying off to who knows where. hopefully, the rings attached will be read somewhere, and I'll get an update on their whereabouts.

20th June 2017

Now that the nesting season is over for this box, I'll update the BTO's Nestbox Challenge website. See you all in 2018!!

Four New Chicks

On 22nd May I blogged about the Starling nestbox on my house having a second clutch of 4 eggs. On Saturday afternoon I had a look in the box and spotted .... 4 newly hatched chicks!

4 chicks

A great record, and one to add to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge website.

Nice surprise!

The first brood of Starlings fledged from the nestbox on my house on 12th May. Since then, a male bird has been present singing and building a new nest. Here's what the nest looked like on 16th May.

16th May 2017

I didn't think he'd managed to attract a mate, until today when I saw an adult bird leaving the box. I had a quick peek, and spotted 4 eggs!!

22nd May 2017

According to the literature, Starlings lay 1 egg a day, so working back, the first egg must have been laid on 19th, just 7 days after the last brood fledged.  Last year, the second clutch was just 3 eggs, so this year's is already an improvement! Hopefully, they'll lay another egg tomorrow, making 2 clutches of 5.

I can now start a new record for the BTO's Nestbox Challenge scheme.

All Gone!

I last blogged about the Starling nest in April, when I ringed the chicks. Since then, they've gone from strength to strength, growing into 5 healthy, fully-feathered chicks, as can be seen in this photo taken on 8th May.

8th May 2017

Since then, there's been a lot of activity around the box, as the adult birds have tried to encourage the young to leave. By 11th (yesterday), 4 of the 5 birds had flown, and today, when I got home from work, the box was empty.

12th May 2017 - empty nest

I'll update the BTO's Nestbox Challenge website with the data, and see if the birds have another brood like they did last year.

As well as these birds to look out for, I've also had my first ever ringed adult Starling in the garden this week. First seen on the 7th May, I was very keen to get a photo of the ring, just in case it was one of the previous year's birds. Unfortunately, the ring number wasn't one from the rings I'd used, so I contacted our data manager at Sorby Breck Ringing Group, who told me that it had been ringed by another member of our group about 1 mile away in June 2016. It was aged as a 5 then, so was born in 2015. It was collecting mealworms, so presumably has a nest nearby.

Ringed Starling

Starlings Ringed

The Starling chicks in the box on the side of my house have continued to grow very nicely over the last week and a half since they hatched on 19th April. I got some "C" rings from Ray, my trainer, today and ringed the chicks.

Starling chick (just before ringing)

As you can see, this chick, 1 of 5 ringed, has begun to grow its flight feathers, and, all being well, should fledge, along with its 4 siblings, in about a week. The ring numbers will be forwarded to the BTO, so that, if the chicks are re sighted, the details of their lives can be recorded, and will add to our knowledge of this "Red listed" species. Details of the nest will also be added to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge.

Starling Nest Update - 5 Chicks

Last time I blogged about the Starling nest in my nestbox was the 8th April, when I noted incubation had begun. Since then, the nest has gone from strength to strength, and we now have 5 healthy chicks, that can be heard cheeping very loudly every time the adult birds return with  a mouthful of food. Here are a couple of pictures. The first shows a full clutch of 5 eggs on the 8th April.

8th April 2017

The chicks hatched on the 19th April, after 11 days of incubation, and the second photo, taken yesterday (23rd April), shows the 5 healthy chicks.

23rd April

I'll keep an eye on them over the next few weeks, and ring the chicks as soon as they're ready. The details of the nest developments have been added to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge Scheme.

Incubation's Begun

The Starling's in the nestbox have continued their nesting attempt this week, and appear to have started incubating the eggs.

Male Starling on nest

Last year (see Starling Nest 2016 labels for details), the eggs hatched after 12 days incubation, so I'll leave well alone until then, and then see what's happening at the end of April.

Details of today's visit will now to added to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge website.

Starlings' First egg.

The Starlings have been building a nest on the side of my house again (see labels Starling Nest 2017 for details).

Male Starling

When I got back from work this evening I spotted a male Starling in the Rowan tree in the garden, and decided to have a check on the box. I was very happy to see.... the first egg of 2017!

First egg

It's always good to see the birds doing well, and it's also interesting to compare this year's nest with the last 2 years. Last year, the first egg was laid on 7th April, and the first egg in 2015 came on 14th April. Hopefully, this pair will go on to lay another 4 eggs, like they did last year, and, who knows, perhaps a second clutch?

I'll add the details of today's visit to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge website, and update the blog again when the clutch is complete, most likely at the weekend.

Starling Nest 2017- the season begins

The Starlings that nest in the box on the side of my house have been busy again this week, and have started to build their nest. This is what it looked like on Sunday afternoon.

26th March 2017

As you can see, the base of the nest is just beginning to be built. As in the previous years, I'll be recording the details of any nesting attempts to the BTO via their Nestbox Challenge Scheme, and will hopefully ring the chicks.

For details of previous year's breeding efforts, click of links entitled Starling Nest 2015 and Starling Nest 2016.