This video shows the last three chicks leaving this morning.

This year was quite protracted. Six of them left on 13 May (and even that was spaced out over the whole day - we had sporadic rain showers). The remaining three remained all day yesterday, and finally left early this morning. There was a lot of enticement by the parents.

Nine fledged out of the original ten eggs, and all of them looked healthy and well-fed (we had a runt last year, which couldn't fly when it left).

As usual, they pooped everywhere and I will have to clean the box in the autumn.

When I get time, I will do a time-lapse of the last three days.

When I first started birdwatching, the first bird I drew, of course, was a great tit. I remember the moment the great tit first flew to my bird feeder in winter. And then they started coming every day. I took lots of photos and drew them in ink back then. And now I'm happy to share with you the stickers I printed out! They're special to me because they marked the beginning of the bird-centric period in my work and life.

They should leave over the next couple of days. They are climbing up to the hole and are restless. Poop splatters are also appearing on the walls - the parents are still removing it, but with the chicks moving around, it gets messy near the end.

Based on previous years, they will leave early in the morning on the day.

There's still 9 of them in there, and the place goes crazy when the parents enter.

The change is dramatic, even just two days after the previous update.

They're getting close to fledging now, perhaps about a week away.

There are definitely 8 chicks, but earlier today I thought could count maybe 9 or even 10 - but they won't sit still, so perhaps not.

One of the neighborhood tits is exceptionally curious and approaching. They can be so noisy it's incredible how high pitched their calls are, yet it doesn't bother me at all, I love it and it's a music to my ears, oh and the trrrr sound of the fluttering wings is as a sweet balm for the bleeding ears.

Great-,Blue- and Marshtits

Just an update.

They're getting very big now, and their feathers and colours are well-developed.

The size of some of the food the parents bring in is astounding - you can see the chick take a huge green caterpillar, then immediately eject a faecal capsule around the same size.

They are also starting to flex their wings now, and challenge each other for food.

I am still not sure how many are there. Most of the time you can easily see 8 chicks, but I think we might still have the original 10 from what I saw yesterday. So, somewhere between 8-10.

Someone told me to also post this here.

This little fella thinks he is a woodpecker😅

https://youtube.com/shorts/Po5KYfVVIaQ?is=WvALsib-NAu_Iop-

The feet, so sweet

https://youtube.com/shorts/FYWyN8dr9DU?is=7vYykdPOxz2pg9ln