Cock blackbird singing in a neighbouring tree.
Nature red in tooth and claw.
Our blackbird pair, nesting in a corner of our car port, had been very good parents sitting on the nest for two weeks. On Saturday morning as I was passing the front of the car port the cock blackbird flew in with a beak-full of food, once I had moved out of his line of sight, he flew to the nest and began feeding the hen. Once fed she hopped onto the side of the nest and the cock started to feed chicks in the nest. Happy outcome, now I needed to keep an eye on their development in order to clear the car out of the way before they flew the nest. However it was not to be.
Someone else had been watching and waiting. On the Sunday morning it was clear that all was not well. No sign of the parent birds. I climbed up as high as I could, but still could not see into it. The nest looked unkempt and it seems that something had made the chicks its breakfast. Our guess is a
A successful nest in the courtyard of our cafe, six years ago.
grey squirrel. The nest is too high for a fox or a hedgehog, but it was an easy climb for a squirrel. If the blackbirds try again I will have to try and make it squirrel proof. Knowing what difficulties I have in denying them my bird feeders, I will have a real problem.
The crime scene
