We have a nest - Blackbirds

Brill.

Luckily Blackbirds are fairly human tolerant but i would not push it by having long doorstep conversations when she is sitting .
When hatched the chances of her deserting are slim with all those mouths to feed !
Might be worth thinking about cat deterrents if you have any moggies living nearby !

We have workmen onsite for three days and she doesn't seem to mind them at all. Sitting tight, usually with eyes shut and head just under the edge of the nest.

Her partner will be in the trees nearby keeping up a constant litany of "Oh, I am such a lucky blackbird to have such a lovely wife..." and as long as he does this, she can sleep. The moment he does his alert call, her head pops up.

I think the pair of them have been very clever to choose such a desirable residence, you know what they say........location,location 😊

I am sad to report that the two blackbirds under our porch lost their nest this morning. While it was sheltered from the weather, they were not concealed in any way and something came and scared them off the eggs.

There were five eggs and whatever ate them left all the shell remains in the nest. I suspect it was either the local Jackdaws as they were pretty close to the nest yesterday or perhaps a rat or small climbing mammal.

The blackbirds are still in the area and will probably be looking for a more sheltered and hidden spot for their next nest as they have already abandoned this one. It is early enough for them to have at least one more go.

They were not quite at the point of hatching... I reckoned one more day for the first egg and an extra day for each of the four after that.

I suspect mammals too now I think about it. The five eggs were eaten in the nest, leaving all the shells in the nest with nothing spilled on the slabs underneath. We do have a few grey squirrels but are very rural here. It could have been rats or any small climbing mammal. Whatever it was, it was ballsy enough to ignore the parents while they yelled at it.

Fortunately the female has already selected a new nest site. I saw her collecting moss yesterday evening.