"I'm Coming Out"

Well, I had a first today as I watched two fledglings leave their nest for the first time. The blue tit family have been consistently announcing their presence while we sat on the patio during the recent good weather. The parents have appreciated a constant supply of fat balls and their flightpath between the nest box and feeder crosses our garden.

I had the camera close by and when I looked through the viewfinder I was surprised to see a wide yellow beak rather than the usual black beak poking out through the hole. I wondered whether something might happen and sure enough within 10 minutes this little chap made a dart for freedom, perching rather unsteadily on a nearby branch, fluttering its wings as fast as it could muster. A few moments later a sibling joined the party.

My only concern was a few minutes later when a pair of magpies landed in the same tree. Some furious calling by the blue tit parents alerted me to a possible danger to the fledglings, though when I last saw them the diminuitive blue tits appeared to have driven off the larger birds.

I've added a couple of shots after the fledglings flew the nest here.