A sadly missed opportunity

[spandit]

Regular readers of my posts may be aware that I found a robin nest, with 4 eggs in it earlier this week. Was planning on rigging up my wildlife camera trained on it to record their progress but when I went to check on the nest today, all the eggs had gone.

What could have taken them? There was one broken eggshell on the ground underneath but the nest looked otherwise undisturbed. If only I'd set the camera up as planned to catch the thief...

 

[HillBill]

Corvids most likely... though squirrels have be known to do it too.

 

[JonathanD]

Squirrels are the main culprits around here. The population seems to have exploded, it's like there's a squirrel in every tree now.

 

[spandit]

I have no qualms about shooting squirrels, they do live in the area. Didn't realise they were ovivores

 

[JonathanD]

I have no qualms about shooting squirrels.

Same here. They taste good too.

 

[cranmere]

We had a similar occurrence last year. We get blackbirds nesting in the spiky green thing that grows by our front door most years but last year the mother disappeared and the eggs were broken. I don't think cats can get up there and we don't see squirrels.

 

[JonathanD]

Magpies are big takers of eggs too.

 

[Toddy]

It's magpies here. They herrie the nests and carry the eggs away to the roof tops to stab them and pick out the innards.
The squirrels will do it as well, but with so many bird feeders in all the gardens, they're well fed these days and don't seem to be quite as much a pest as they were. The magpies take the small squirrel kits too if they can. We hear some battles royal in the trees along side the garden. The blackbird's frantic, "chink,chink,chink", the magpies chattering gleefully and the squirrels hissing with rage. Nature's not a peaceful place a lot of the time. Surprisingly it's the wren's warning chip!chip!chip!chip! that I can hear even in the house when it spots a cat along the burnside woods.

It's early enough yet Spandit; the robins might well nest again, and they might find a better hidey hole this time, though it's hard to find one the squirrels can't reach

atb,
M

 

[JonathanD]

Grey squirrels will also eat fledglings.

 

[ebt.]

Shame, but thats the circle of life I guess.

It seems to be a good year for smaller birds, my feed station is being frequented by fledgling robins, sparrows, tits and the worlds clumsiest crow. I've got a pair of goldfinches visiting too, so hoping to see some of their chicks.

Out of interest, which trailcam did you use?

 

[ozzy1977]

We have had stoats before take eggs in our garden, and there is a lot of weasels about too

 

[21st century pict]

It is sometimes possible to tell who the culprit was from the remains of the egg and how the shells were opened ,
any pics?

 

[Harvestman]

It sounds like someone has made the most of an opportunity to get a meal.

 

[JonathanD]

It is sometimes possible to tell who the culprit was from the remains of the egg and how the shells were opened ,
any pics?

Most times it is quite easy to tell what ate it from the remains. Most animals have tells in the way they break the shell.

 

[21st century pict]

Most times it is quite easy

Hey I know that, I just didn't want to sound like clever dick to the guy but without a pic I'm still just guessing.


Aye 18/9/2014

 

[spandit]

Out of interest, which trailcam did you use?

It's a LTL Acorn but that photo was taken with my iPhone.