![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nest box update
Jun. 7th, 2006 12:19 pmThe blue tits fledged last week. we didn't actually see them go, but one day the parents were frantially feeding and the next day there was nothing. We think the parents have taken the young somewhere else to feed now, possibly a nearby oak tree.
Great tit activity has stepped up this last day from which we strongly suspect their eggs have hatched. Visits to the box had been very sporadic (we wondered at one point if they'd moved out), but now they're back and forth with breaks of only a few minutes.
The back garden is occupied by a group of baby sparrows. We don't know where the nest was, but the parents have brought them here for kindergarten. They are incredibly cute and very funny. Watching a youngster trying to master the art of landing on the washing line is hysterical.
Today is also damselfly day. They've been emerging over the last day or two from the pond, as witnessed by an ever-increasing number of empty husks on the pond plants, but today, we've actually caught them in the act.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
waveney and I have just been lying on the lawn watching a newly emerged damselfly slowly pumping the fluid into its wings. It's slow, but after a minute or two, the wings are definitely larger. It'll probably be an hour or more before he's ready to fly, but this sunny day is just perfect for drying out those new wings.
He (or she) is very pale, almost a translucent green. When they're safely emerged, they will leave the pond for a few days and develop their adult colours. Only when they perfected their flying and hunting skills will they become the vivid red or blue damselflys that will return to challenge others over the pond for a mate.
Great tit activity has stepped up this last day from which we strongly suspect their eggs have hatched. Visits to the box had been very sporadic (we wondered at one point if they'd moved out), but now they're back and forth with breaks of only a few minutes.
The back garden is occupied by a group of baby sparrows. We don't know where the nest was, but the parents have brought them here for kindergarten. They are incredibly cute and very funny. Watching a youngster trying to master the art of landing on the washing line is hysterical.
Today is also damselfly day. They've been emerging over the last day or two from the pond, as witnessed by an ever-increasing number of empty husks on the pond plants, but today, we've actually caught them in the act.
waveney and I have just been lying on the lawn watching a newly emerged damselfly slowly pumping the fluid into its wings. It's slow, but after a minute or two, the wings are definitely larger. It'll probably be an hour or more before he's ready to fly, but this sunny day is just perfect for drying out those new wings.He (or she) is very pale, almost a translucent green. When they're safely emerged, they will leave the pond for a few days and develop their adult colours. Only when they perfected their flying and hunting skills will they become the vivid red or blue damselflys that will return to challenge others over the pond for a mate.
