Just a quick update on what for the most part has been a quite depressing day. I thought that there were only six live chicks this morning, but actually I was wrong, there must have been seven. However, during the course of the morning I saw a chick die on the NestCam. Seeing this made me wonder about this whole NestCam thing and whether I want to witness the struggle for life live on camera like this.
The dead chick was much smaller than the others and struggled to get fed when the parents came with food. At one point one of the other chicks seemed to put a wing over its neck when it was straining to get fed and it never recovered from that. It lay on the nest floor for a while without moving and although it did move again at some point, I later found it lying motionless and it didn't move again. I don't know what will happen to the dead chick, whether they'll be able to take it out or if it will just stay at the bottom of the nest.
So then I thought we were down to just five chicks as they have been out of view for most of the day due the overhanging nest I mentioned in the previous post. For most of the day I only ever saw five mouths at once and so I assumed this must be right. However, my mood has lifted a little now as I've just managed to count six live chicks and they all seem OK. One must have been hidden in the nest this morning or perhaps it was too weak to get out into the open.
So that's good news with which to end I suppose, isn't it?
An online birding diary, photo album and scrapbook - it's not much but it keeps me amused
it is looking good says G_Bob
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