Sunday 28th May and we can only see 5 chicks now. However, those which have survived so far seem to be thriving and whilst 'Mum' was seeing to her own needs this afternoon, the young ones decided to spread their wings a little and emerged from the well of the nest and played around a little in the box. (I missed this personally).
Apparently they were very active and quite comical to watch. At present they are once again 'home alone' and the scrambling about on top of one another is very funny to watch; they push and shove one another for space and one which has less feathers than the rest unfortunately gets more than its fair share of bullying.
I can hardly believe how quickly they are maturing. I've noticed since they hatched how quickly they seem to latch on to the sound of a parent approaching - well before the feeder enters the nest the motionless chicks suddenly become alert and up go the beaks in anticipation of being fed and the next moment in comes the parent on cue.
Soon it will be time for bed and 'Mum' will come in as usual and settle them down for the night. Their bodies will be turned so that their heads face outwards and she will gently sit down and cover them with the ultimate feather 'duvet'.
Fortunately both male and female parents are looking after the chicks so with a bit of luck they will soon be flying the nest. Fingers crossed once more.