It’s half term and we are still checking those nest boxes! We found tree bees in one box today. For the holidays, here are a selection of views that our camera picked up when it peeked into the entrance holes of some of our nest boxes…
(All nests were checked following BTO nesting bird survey protocols)
A great tit family about a week off fledging – you can see their feathers and colouring quite clearly. 
These tiny great tits have just hatched. 
This messy nest belongs to a blue tit. 
Sometimes we find Mum keeping her chicks warm – this is a great tit family. 
Such big eyes – and look at the tufts on the little guy at the back! 
Blue tits again. 
This great tit is likely to be on eggs. 
Just in the process of hatching, the magical moment. 
Amazing that within a few weeks this tiny, alien looking form becomes the bird we recognise. 
All these nuthatch chicks just don’t fit under Mum anymore! 
Blue tits are particularly good at those ‘stern looks’. Baby is just practising… 
These blue tits are well on the way to fledging. 
Brooding… 
Nuthatches seem to end up stacked on top of each other like a live game of Jenga. 
I count seven… 
Two tiny blue tits, both at the correct age that a BTO ring can be fitted so that in the future these birds can be identified and can help us to understand more about the species and the dynamics of bird populations in these changing times. 
and with their rings… Both chicks were popped back into the nest box and I watched at a distance until Mum and Dad returned to the chicks with food. 
Not all our nests are in boxes. This little hole in the tree trunk is typical of where we find coal and marsh tits. In this hole we found… 
four little marsh tits all snuggled into their subterranean home.
Trees of Sanctuary 