2020 Breeding Season

How has this breeding season gone ?

Well this year has not been good here trying to do more than i am capable of has certainly shown resulting in 3out of 4 Siberian ruby-throats reared by parents and moulted out to be 1 male 2 females.
And 3 Chestnut backed tanagers i hand reared the 1st one from 3 days old i found it stone cold floppy and colour pale and even after all these years i would say dead ! i cupped it in my hands and breathing warm air onto it but no response but i put it in the incubator and when i checked it half an hour later i was amazed to see it moving a little 5 hours later it had recovered enough for me to feed it is now in a moult and its a male, i have revived many chicks over the years but this one realy did amaze me.
the second youngster was parent reared and moulting to be another male, the 3rd chick was a lucky one for the first time this pr laid and hatched 3 eggs they were rearing all 3 young very well but disater struck when we had 1 of our rare blazing hot days this year and lost 2 of the 3 chicks in the nest they also had a bacterial infection disapointed i removed the 3rd chick and hand reared it i suppose this will moult out to be a male too.

My Rufus bellied niltavas laid a total of 18 eggs only 2 fertile only1 hatched but was dead the next morning.

i made up a second pr of Rufus bellied niltavas i ran them in flights next too each other for several weeks so they they could bond the female started carrying nesting material and building in a hollow log so i let the male into her flight and watched them for half an hour all seamed ok so i went in and had a cup of coffee then went and checkled on them too late the male had killed her...

The Eastern bluebirds did the same 18 eggs only 2 fertile and 1 hatched both parents were feeding well with beaks full of food so i kept away but alas on the 3rd day they were going to the nest with food but coming away with it on inspection the chick was dead and looking at the evidence i would say it was my fault with the insects provided were too big the chicks gape was smaller than i expected.

For various reasons i also lost 5 young Fairy bluebirds