I shall try not to post too many videos too soon but this was just great to watch.  It appears that it is too much for a Great tit to take in when the food you give is too big for your hours-old chicks to swallow!

Both the House Martins and Great tits have started hatching this morning.  The first Chick was out at 6.05 this morning with a second Great tit chick soon after.  The House martins are more reclusive but have been throwing bits of egg shell out of the nest since 7am.  Enjoy the clips bellow and friends can log into the camera server using the link in the Friends area to see the action live.

The Barn Owl chicks are very close to fledging, the 2 older ones in particular just look like tatty adults now!  We shall be ringing them tomorrow morning all being well so keep an eye out for pictures of that.  As you can imagine it's getting very cramped in there, especially when the chicks are testing their wings, so the adults now spend what little time they have not hunting in the second box nearby.

The Great tit is also doing well, the female spends nearly all of her time sitting on the eggs only leaving for 10-15 minutes a few times a day.  The 6 eggs are due to hatch within the week now

The Barn Owl chicks are growing fast, all 5 are still doing well with the largest now getting their adult feathers through on the backs of their necks and tails.  You'll see from the video that they are starting to test thoeir wings, it's going to get pretty cramped in the box before they fledge!  The Female is now out hunting most of the time too which helps with space also in  previous years the adults have roosted in the second box nearby as the chicks grow.