I couldn’t believe my eyes yesterday morning when I checked the nest and found it empty. 😳 I panicked and looked everywhere for signs of attack, dead chicks or anything else horrible. But nothing. No sign of disturbance, damage, no distressed parents or anything of that sort. The nest was simply abandoned. But weren’t they too young at 10-11 days old?
I Googled Dunnocks again and found they fledge from 11-14 days old, so hubby thinks with all the brilliant weather we’ve had that they grew fast and fledged early. Or is he just trying to console me?
The picture above was the very last I took of them 3 days before they left the nest. I saw them the night before they vanished and they did look VERY crammed in their nest and so it was maybe time to go. I can’t help worrying about them and praying they are okay. Until they turn up at the ground feeders with their parents we’ll never know for certain. In the meantime I’m praying for their safety. 🙏🏻🙏🏻 I hope they stay safe in the cold weather forecast for the weekend. 🤞🤞
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Spotty-ewe
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I hope so too Barbara. At present the parents are probably still feeding them wherever they happen to be. The fact we haven’t seen the parents Return to the nest, or even the hedge, since yesterday morning gives me hope that they are looking after them wherever they have flown to, between flying lessons. 🤞🤞😁
I’m praying that is the case Eekt.🙏🏻 No evidence of anything more sinister, so fingers crossed they show up with parents at the ground feeders soon. The woodpecker (greater spotted) and blackbirds all bring their young to the local bird cafe, so I hope the dunnocks will too. 🤞
Many birds too young to be actually feed themselves seem to be able to fly. I have so often seen them close to bird feeders I refer to them as feed-me's. You get them constantly calling to be fed like they do when in the nest but they maybe sitting on a nearby tree branch with their parents flitting back and forth.
I’m hoping the same thing OHL. I’ve often seen them on the ground near the feeders and parents running back and forth feeding them. So funny. So hopefully the wee dunnocks will turn up soon near to the ground feeders their parents use.
Yes, dunnocks do have a second brood but I’ve no idea how soon after the first.
Good to hear from you OHL and thanks for your observations. I love the term ‘feed-me’s’. So appropriate. I hope the wee dunnocks are in that category at present. 🙏🏻🙏🏻 Take care. 🤗😘
They moved into that townhouse I said dear Spotty. Hopefully they will follow their parents to the feeders you have, and come to visit. Sorry to see them go so fast. Praying they will be singing to you in your yard soon!! Your nest is the best!!! all my blessings, and peace.Xxx thestormy sunshine
I hope you are right Stormy 🙏🏻🙏🏻 and I hope they all keep safe and warm over the weekend when strong very cold winds are due to arrive! 💨❄️ Brrr! I’m keeping an eye open for them anyway. Hubby has seen the parents at the feeders but not the youngsters so far who are no doubt still ‘feed me’s’. I hope you have a lovely Mother’s Day tomorrow Stormy and that the sun shines on the Stormy Sunshine!! 🤗😘
Aaaww, thank you dear Spotty. And hoping the cold wind doesn't come in to strong!!! We have it here again today, like a train, watching our bird herds here, they are blown with the wind. Better days to come for us all. My so many blessings and peace .Xxx thestormy sunshine
Sorry to hear your weather still isn’t spring-like Stormy. I pray it improves very soon and doesn’t stop you, hubby and Storm having a lovely day. Hugs 🤗🤗🤗💐🙏🏻💕Spotty😘
I'm sure they'll be about, lying low and scurrying around the bushes like little mice. I wonder if the parents will get any rest before their next brood. It must be hard work keeping all those demanding little "feed-mes" fed (love that term Overnight!).
If anything had taken them there would have been some telltale signs.
We have been a bit slow starting this morning but there has been some havoc in the garden. A tub planted with lettuce was turned over and some growbag greenhouses along the fence had indentations in the roof area. I suspected a cat we saw yesterday, but just found some pigeon wings. Nothing else. So now think a fox has been past.
Oh how horrible. 😮Poor pigeon. 😩 But I take your point there would have been some evidence of the wee Dunnocks being attacked and killed if that is what had happened to them. So it all looks very promising for them. 🙏🏻🤞Thanks for that OHL.
I hope you are able to salvage your lettuces and put right your growbag greenhouses.🤞🤞 Not a nice thing to discover. I hope the rest of your weekend is more pleasant. 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Actually the lettuces weren't really lettuces yet and were on their last chance to grow or be replaced so out of all the pots, the lettuce pot will be the least missed.
Everything else is ok. I stopped cursing the cat when we found the wings as it looked a whole lot more like a fox may have been responsible. Poor pigeon. I hope it was quick. The fox may have cubs somewhere.
If it was a fox it will have been quicker than a cat with its prey. I hope it didn’t suffer for long anyway. Glad the damage to your growing items was minimal. Here’s hoping the fox doesn’t return and cause more havoc. 🤞
I suppose it is the right time for foxes to have cubs so that is maybe where to poor pigeon ended up.
We have noticed some flattened peas. Now we have put upright sticks in all of the pots. If he trys to jump on anything now there with be some surprises.
Another thing that makes me think it was a fox is something we found after clearing the end of the garden near the shed. It's been a bit of a dumping ground for a while and we are clearing it now. I didn't notice till I stood back but it looks like there has been some digging under the shed base. Reminiscent possibly of a fox den. We had them all over the bottom of the garden when we were at my partner's mother house so I recognise the signs.
My current garden is not big enough to support a fox family so hope it is not being used.
What a nuisance that fox is. I hope it isn’t taking up residence even as a temporary den. Hopefully you clearing up around that area will now put it off when it notices the human activity.🤞🤞
Some good news - we’ve just seen a very fluffy juvenile dunnock at our ground feeders. So hopefully it is one of ‘ours’. 🙏🏻 I’m so pleased.
We had fox cubs at the old garden. They are really quite cute if not having the best of manners. The old garden ran to about 100ft and sometimes I would walk down the garden and then realise a fox cub was following. They can be really playful.
If our garden was large I wouldn't bother. But we have restricted space. So it's not ideal here.
Good news re the dunnocks.Hopefully you will see a few more. It seems at least one made it.
That is so cute regarding the fox cubs. It is such a shame they have to kill to survive. Rather like our domestic cats. Great pets but bad news for wildlife.🐈
Yes, hopefully we’ll see more of the juvenile Dunnocks as they become independent of Mum and Dad.🤞🤞
The one we did see didn’t stay still for long and didn’t hang around for long. So I’d have to be quick. By the time the camera or iPad booted up they’d be gone. But I’ll definitely try. 👍🏻
I live in a block of flats and we often have foxes in our garden. I have a ground floor flat and one year the cubs came inside 4 times! I couldn’t leave my patio doors open even went I went into a different room. They do look so cute and they can be really friendly. But I had an old cat and I worried they would attack her. Mostly they run away from me now but there is still one older one who limps on his hind leg and has damaged his front paw now. He (or she) is still not frightened and will sit and blink at me if I stand and talk. About 2 metres away, which makes me laugh. I think it’s the cub who used to play with me 4 or 5 years ago. I’d chase him away but when I walked away he would come back and follow me. We repeated this until I got bored and went in. I live in a seaside resort and the foxes are losing weight. I live backing onto a road that has take aways and restaurants and people eat sandwiches etc. That’s mostly not there now so they have lost a major food source from all the discarded food.
Thank you for the reminder of how sweet the foxes are and how mischievous.
You saying about them coming indoors reminds me of a couple of incidents that we had.
We had a cat flap for a rather large cat. A Maine Coon and we had an additional regular sized cat. I am not part of the Foxes are really dangerous brigade but young ones are inquisitive and it can cause problems
One morning in the early hours whilst we were still sleeping my partner yelped and there was a large commotion of something trying to escape. My guy had been sleeping with his foot out from under the covers.
A cub had been in the house and up to the bedroom and had nibbled his big toe. I said it was probably due to him having smelly feet.
This came after a period where our smaller cat was regularly catching and bringing in mice. I didn't like to deal with dead mice so if I got up in the night I would cover them with an upside down cat bowl and my guy would get rid of them in the morning. But there had been a couple of incidences of clanking cat bowls and no mouse to dispose of.
We think the Foxes had ventured inside a few times.
Then there was another incident. My partner's mother was sleeping downstairs at this point due to decreasing mobility. One morning she woke and saw a fox looking at her from the conservatory. Again a young one.
And the final incident was when we went away for a few days after my guys mother passed. His daughter was visiting to feed the cats. One time she entered to sheer pandemonium.
2 cubs were in the house. Their fear of being trapped caused them to become frantic and there were lots of extra deposits to clean up when she finally got them out of the house.
This was when we finally decided that we must make things a little less welcoming.
But I still love them in the right setting. They were only seeking food in places they had previously been successful.
Lovely stories, I did laugh at your partners toe being nibbled! They are so inquisitive and they look so sweet, but they can be dirty As you found out 🤣. I worried about my cat as she was elderly and had arthritis, they don’t often attack cats I know but there were a lot of cubs that year. Ella was totally fascinated by them, she wanted to go out and play with them!
Wow that was quick! I hope they fledged safe and well. Maybe the parents will think it was a great nesting site and have a second brood? At least you have some lovely pics of the chicks and fingers crossed there will be more eggs in the best soon! 🥚xx
We were excited to see one of the fledglings around the ground feeders yesterday looking very fluffy and cute among the sparrows and chaffinches. It has obviously learned to feed itself already but its siblings are most likely still at the ‘feed me’ stage. We’ve seen the parents at the feeders too but so far only the one fledgling. Fingers crossed the others appear soon. The nest site was a really bad one and I’m just glad they all fledged safely when right beside the narrow lane and so low to the ground with all the prowling cats. I hope they find a better site for their next brood. 🤞🤞Lovely to hear from you Horsewhisper. 🤗😘
So glad you have seen one of the fledglings, here’s hoping the others will appear soon enough 🤞🤞🤞- do keep us posted, it’s lovely to hear that everything is carrying on normally with Mother Nature whilst we humans contend with the topsy-turvy world! 💐xx
I think I saw two today by the ground feeder one being fed by a parent, but not 100% certain as the sparrows have also fledged and look similar. Hubby identifies them quickly and easily but he was in the bathroom at the time and of course they had gone by the time he returned. But I’ll keep you posted. Yes it is lovely to have the normality of nature around us in these uncertain times. Keep safe. 🤗😘💐
Just to let you know we saw 3 of the fledglings yesterday afternoon.😃👏🏻👏🏻 Two were on the ground near one of the ground feeders sunning themselves and being fed by Mum who went back and forth to them. The third was busy preening itself on a low branch on a bush only a couple of feet away.😁 It was so lovely to see them. So it seems at least 3 of them have made it. 👏🏻👏🏻 We are so pleased and excited. Just thought I’d share it with you Horsewhisper. 🥰
Oh fab! It’s great to hear that you have spotted 3 of them, hopefully the 4th is hopping about somewhere nearby. What a relief and thanks for the update. Here’s a birdy story for you - our dining room table is in a glass extension that is very close to the lawn. We have noticed that since during lockdown, in the evenings when we have supper, a male blackbird hops about on the lawn, 2 pigeons sit on the roof ridge, and a goldfinch or two swoop about. We laugh and say that they come down and watch us eat - like we watch them!! It is quite funny as often they are there before we have even sat down - like they are waiting for us! We have even been blessed to see a green woodpecker who spends most of his days drilling into an old oak tree in the field and sometimes in the evening flits into the garden, scampers up a young oak, pecks about on the lawn for a bit then disappears. Such is our interest in the birdies, we’ve ordered an iPhone camera lens to put on the phone, sit it on a tripod and hopefully get some nice shots of them, especially the woodpecker. One of the nice things that has come out this lockdown situation is that we sit together at the end of a meal and watch and talk about the birdies. No one dashes off - long may it last! Keep us posted Spotty, it’s so nice to hear about nature stories 🤞🐦🦅😁😍🤗xx
Haha. I love the idea of the birdies watching you eat! Lovely that something good has come out of the lockdown.
I hope you get some terrific photos with your new lense when it arrives, and of course you must post them when you do. Mine have been taken with my iPad which today is refusing to link with the keyboard and I’m having to use the onscreen one. Ugh!
But what is upsetting me most at present is the woodland behind our neighbours is being harvested. I know it is a cash crop but does it have to be harvested in the middle of the breeding season? Farmers aren’t allowed to cut their hedges between April and October yet a whole woodland can be cleared? It makes me so angry when I think of all the birds, red squirrels which are dying out, badgers and other wildlife that is being affected. Scandalous!
Thanks for sharing your story Horsewhisper and I look forward to seeing some of your photos soon. Take care. Xxx
Oh Spotty! Sorry to hear about the clearing of the woodland, that is just awful and particularly at this time of year with all the nesting and general nature activity going on. If it’s a large area, I wonder if permission was required from the Forestry Commission or council to clear the woods? If so I’m surprised they would let them do it at this time of year. Such a shame as woodland is so precious to our environment.
Yes we’ll try and get some pics of the birds - yesterday evening was funny - we sat down to supper half an hour earlier than usual and there was not a bird in sight. During the meal, they all started to congregate on the lawn, roof ridge and trees and by 6.30 pm the usual birdies had taken up their positions - to watch us eat! Mr Blackbird even brought some lady friends along! It’s starting to feel a bit like a Hitchcock movie set! We did laugh! 😆Hope all ok with you and keep us posted about the wee dunnocks! 🥚🐦🌟😘
😂😂That is so funny about the birds watching you eat which seems to be confirmed by the change in meal time throwing them. Maybe they are hopeful of some table scraps. 🤷♀️ So funny.🤣
I think the woodland behind the neighbours is privately owned, but the fact the machinery has been working for weeks makes me think it is a large area they are clearing. They did a huge area 2 years ago over the winter which has now been replanted, but this time of year is callous and irresponsible as far as nature is concerned. I’m going to contact our community councillor to see if she knows who is behind it all. Probably too late for the wildlife, but I suppose better late than never. Nobody else seems bothered. When I mentioned it being breeding season to the neighbours they just said, “Oh, I suppose there is that to it!” 🤦♀️ I’ll see what the community councillor has to say. Take care and enjoy entertaining your bird life. 😂 xx
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