The weather during the chick-rearing period was more settled than has been the case over the last few seasons and this no doubt helped the adults to bring in a steady supply of food, ensuring the high rate of productivity (2.8 young per successful nest).
It is hoped that it will be possible to estimate the true number of young fledged in the area this year by comparing the numbers of young with and without wing-tags at the communal winter roost.
As part of a joint project between English Nature, Forest Enterprise and the RSPB, a camera was installed at a nest site in Rockingham Forest, Northants when the chicks were about three weeks old. Live pictures could be viewed on monitors set up in a modified barn at Forest Enterprise’s offices until the end of the breeding season.
The project was billed as the wildlife equivalent of Big Brother in one national newspaper, with the chicks apparently fighting a ‘ruthless battle for supremacy in the nest’. In fact, because there was no shortage of food, both chicks received their fair share and there were only short-lived, petty squabbles between them.
As expected, it was the adult male that brought in the majority of the food, either leaving it on the nest or passing it to the female to feed to the young.
