Chaffinch nest

[NatureTrainee]

Hi all

We have had a Chaffinch nesting in our honesuckle at the side of our house, the female made it clear that we were no longer welcome in our veggie patch as it was too near the nest! We were happy to leave her to it and thrilled that she was nesting in our garden. We saw alot of her up until Monday. Then we didn't see her much but the male returned. We were devastated to see that the nest had been damaged yesterday and no sign of the chicks. Last time we saw them (Monday morning) the chicks had wing feathers that were quite developed and they were quite large. I am not sure when they hatched but it must have been at least three weeks. Would they have fledged already? Would the nest be damaged during fledging? The nest was a cup shape and now the front of it has been pulled forward (so not completely wrecked but would need a bit of work to be used again).

Sorry if this is a rambling post but we are so upset to think that something might have happened to them. They were our first nest so we were quite attached! We saw a grey squirrel in the garden for the first time last week - could he be the culprit? There isn't much sign of cats in the neighbourhood but we have seen one once......

We have got a blackbird nest so we are comforting ourselves with the fact that those nestlings are still alive and well.

Any ideas would be gratefully received!!
Thanks
S

[healfdan]

Hello

Doesn't sound good. Crows and Magpies often wait to the last minute before taking chicks and thats a sad fact of life. Now time to turn detective. If all the youngsters were developed enough to leave the nest then you should see signs of them in the local vicinity. Parent birds dashing around feeding them while the young sit on a perch begging. If they toppled out of the nest, then look for signs of the parents who will continue to feed them and possibly give away their location. Of course at this point they are at risk from ground predators.
If they came to grief as a result of a raid by a predator such as maggies or grey squirrels you should see quite a few small feathers close to the nest.

Fingers crossed
Healfdan

[NatureTrainee]

Thank you for your reply.
We haven't seen any evidence of young chaffinches in the garden - the male did pop back to the feeders yesterday but he was on his own. There was also no evidence of feathers around the nest site.
However......on Saturday we heard our hens' alarm calls and when we went out the garden was full of birds giving alarm calls and sure enough a Jackdaw was lurking around the garden looking at everyone's nests.
It looks like the most likely explanation - I am just glad that it wasn't a cat, its a shame as in that moment I realised why corvids get such a bad press! We love them but I must admit I was rather upset to see them looking at our blackbird nest! Thats nature for you!
Thanks again