Bird's nest problem (Blue tits)

[Vara]

I have received this cry for help from friends;

Safely arrived in France ready for our launch tomorrow…. BUT we have encountered a problem for which we cannot arrive at a solution on our own.

So we need some help and advice from informed friends/other yachtspeople/ ornithologists -what are we to do? ****** is laid up in a yard where we have had to ask NOT to be left under the
trees because of the number of leaves that drop on to the deck during the winter…. So for the last two years that has worked fine…far less verdigris on the deck.

However we are still in an area that can only be called verdant, in the middle of cherry orchards, with a considerable variety of trees. To-day, gently minding our own business, unpacking,
checking seacocks etc etc we became aware of quite a lot of avian activity around the backstay. Finally the penny dropped - a pair of blue tits were arriving like clockwork every few moments,
tiny green caterpillars clenched tightly in their beaks and disappearing INSIDE the end of the boom! Listening carefully we could just catch the sound of a tiny cheeping in the evening air.

So what to do? When we launch will the parents be able to find us? Is their ornithological nav system sophisticated enough to be able to follow their offspring to the visitors' pontoon?
How long will the chicks take to fledge? Will our insurers' pay out because of a fledging delay in departure? How do you clean blue tit poo off teak? And - not least- how do we stop
Barney eating them?
All ideas and advice gratefully received.

Barney is a cat.

Will forward any useful replies.

 

[peterb]

Let Barney eat them. Problem solved.

 

[BrendanS]

If already hatched, then under 2 weeks before they leave, or attempt to.
No, parents won't find them, unless they hear the calls and make the connection. Their cues are geographic, and they aren't 'programmed' to find a nest that has moved.
They should be safe enough where they are from Barney, unless Barney works out that he can sit on end of boom! Until the fledglings leave the boom, when they will be very vulnerable

 

[snowleopard]

Bluetits get everywhere. We found this at a transport cafe on the A303...

 

[armchairsailor]

Thank goodness you're not in the UK - you might risk being in contravention of the Wildlife and Countryside Act for disturbance of nesting birds!

 

[DownWest]

Last saturday Gaston, our large Blue point cat, came past with two feet sticking out of his mouth. We 'persauded' him to release the prey, which was a Blue Tit chick . It good nick, if some what shocked. A bit later, he called mummy(or Daddy?) who turned up and twittered. So we put him in a box on the out house roof and they started to feed him(her). Weather not being great we worried about his future. Realised where the nest was (hole in end wall of house) and waited for a gap in the feeding process, the popped him back off a ladder.
Whole family now on the wing. This may not help you much, but kept us occupied for a few hours.
A

 

[CharlesSwallow]

LOOK! and HEAR THIS!

I will say this once and once only..........




YOU ONLY GET BLUE TITS IN YOUR GARDEN WHEN YOU DON'T WEAR SUFFICIENT CLOTHING IN ADVERSE WEATHER.

END OF MESSAGE

Chas

 

[DownWest]

Heh, and we were talking about feathered flying creatures, not birds )

 

[DogWatch]

Thank goodness you're not in the UK - you might risk being in contravention of the Wildlife and Countryside Act for disturbance of nesting birds!

There are some of us who don't need a law and would rather not disturb or destroy a nest if at all possible. It seems vara and friends may also feel this way.

 

[boatmike]

Agreed Brendan but Blue tits probably just eggs right now! Hatching over the next week or so then 2 weeks till flight. Believe vessel would have to remain in situ for 3-4 weeks to preserve fledgelings. If not possible then dump nest now which gives birds second chance to lay before too late........

 

[BrendanS]

his comments were "a pair of blue tits were arriving like clockwork every few moments,
tiny green caterpillars clenched tightly in their beaks and disappearing INSIDE the end of the boom! Listening carefully we could just catch the sound of a tiny cheeping in the evening air"
Giving the distinct impression they have already hatched and the parents are feeding them.

 

[ralf2]

Bluetits get everywhere. We found this at a transport cafe on the A303...

That was mentioned on another forum i visit,"grow your own"...is snowleopard there too by any chance??

 

[snowleopard]

That was mentioned on another forum i visit,"grow your own"...is snowleopard there too by any chance??

No, I saw this on Sat and it's the first time I have posted it. I have seen the picture on the news so it's common knowledge down our way.

 

[geoffatstanpit]

If not possible then dump nest now

Easier said than done!! The nest will be made of well knitted string, wool, grass and all sorts of stuff. My boat stood in Chichester marina all spring before I bought it. I wondered why the outhaul didn't work. Got half a bucket of stuff out initially but the pulley inside the boom is still jammed despite efforts each winter since 01 to try to free it!

 

[boatmike]

his comments were "a pair of blue tits were arriving like clockwork every few moments,
tiny green caterpillars clenched tightly in their beaks and disappearing INSIDE the end of the boom! Listening carefully we could just catch the sound of a tiny cheeping in the evening air"
Giving the distinct impression they have already hatched and the parents are feeding them.

Which just proves I can't read I suppose.... (Doh!)

 

[DownWest]

Apart from your reading problems, the season is a bit earlier here for tits. Ours are long gone.
A
I await interpretations on a theme...

 

[sailorgirl]

Crows Nest

Its not just blue tits - whilst in Salalah, Oman for a couple of weeks with the Vasco de Gama rally in March this year, enterprising local crows made several attempts to build their scrap wire nest at the top of one or other of the masts on offer. Eventually they settled on the boat moored next to us: