Garden (12 May)

restricted to the house and garden for the past few weeks due to approaching exams however the time has been by no means wasted.  1 group of at least 9 Swifts flew over the house in a northerly direction, wit a group of 4 indulging in a high speed chase around the houses at roof height, followed by a single Swallow, probably already building a nest in the eaves of the local houses.  A pair of Great Tits have successfully nested in Ephraim's bird box in the garden and with the installation of a nest box cam we have been able to monitor their progress, at present 6-7 chicks are in the nest, however due to the poor quality of the footage and the camera not revealing the whole nest the exact number is difficult to tell.  The first flight feathers are beginning to emerge and their primaries and secondaries are reaching 1cm and are growing at a rate of 1-2mm/ day!  Both other Blue Tit boxes are occupied however I have not observed any birds approach one for several days so we may be down to only 1 nesting pairs of Blue Tits in the garden.