While we were away . . .

While we were away the ducklings hatched as did the coots and the blue tits fledged.  When we got back there were no ducklings and no baby coots. In fact, the only 'ducklings' we've seen are mandarin babies.  There were three with one mother and two with another but they have also disappeared. At least the swans still have two cygnets which seem to be doing well. As for the blue tits we can't tell how they fared.  Some may have survived but it is impossible to identify which youngsters might be the ones from our nest box.

On the day we went away the parents spent most of the morning feeding the youngsters.  Below are a few photos of their activities.

 A tasty morsel for one of the chicks

Sunflower hearts went down well, too

 I'm hungry . . . one of the babies gets impatient

 Another mouth to feed

We hope that most of the young blue tits made it this year.  Last year a neighbour's Bengal cat caught one of the chicks and I rescued another after it flew into the house!  Unfortunately I saw the same cat sitting on our car in an attempt to get as close as possible to the fledglings in the nest.  One false move by any one of them and the cat would get them.  I moved the car to make life as difficult as possible for the cat but it's a demon hunter.

It's now five weeks since the ducklings and coots hatched and their nest boxes are occupied again. When we got back from holiday one of the mandarin ducks was using the coots' nest as a temporary shelter for her three youngsters.  At the same time a tufted duck was checking out both boxes, as was a mallard.

Nothing much seemed to happen for a while but when I looked inside one of the boxes there were two small eggs in it.  We watched more closely and noticed a tufted duck going into the box on a regular basis.  However we also spotted a mallard using the same box.  She has taken it over now and is sitting full time so there are likely to be at least seven eggs.  

Below are two screen grabs taken by the nest camera which is connected to our TV set.

Mrs. tufty rolling the eggs

 Mrs. mallard is now in residence

As I'm writing this I am watching the female mallard sitting in the nest box via a camera linked to our television.  We haven't counted the number of eggs yet as she spends most of her time on the nest now. However, while she was taking a break for food and a wing stretch yesterday I glanced at the TV and got quite a shock.  A female mandarin duck was inside and was carefully rolling all the eggs!  Her partner was standing at the entrance to the box as if to guard it.  I have no idea why a mandarin duck would roll another duck's eggs.   

Meanwhile, the tufted duck is still trying to use the same box and has ignored the coots' nest box up till now.  Perhaps I need to clean it out again since it was used by the mandarin and her three babies for about a week.  I need to get more straw, too, once it's been cleaned. I never cease to be surprised at how creatures adapt to our urban world.  It's most unusual for a coot to build a nest inside a box. It equally improbable that a female mandarin duck would roll a mallard female's eggs.  Mandarins nest in trees but I'm just wondering whether next year a mandarin duck might change the habits of a lifetime and use one of our boxes to raise her young.