An Observation photo by Paul Brookes
Redstart log
I admit, I haven’t been following the redstarts closely enough to know which day the chicks left, or even if they did. It’s possible they died, or a marten got them, as I never heard the loud cheeping that comes from large, impatient redstart chicks, nor did I see their first chaotic flight.
Despite the hedges and scores of trees in his land, old André, made a nesting box and hung it on a beam in the porch. I imagine it was because he and Georgette enjoyed watching nesting and young birds taking to the air. This is the first year the nesting box has been used by birds. Lizards, but never birds.
There are always redstarts nesting around the house, under the eaves, and last year they were in the hayloft. Not a very good choice as the cats get up there. When the chicks hatched, they were forever popping out of holes in the wall, getting into the house, falling out of the pigeon loft, getting stuck in honeysuckle and vine, and having to be rescued.
This year they found their way through the vine that almost hides the entrance, into André’s box.
Mrs Redstart seemed to do most of the work while Mr kept her entertained with his singing. Occasionally he would take over and keep the eggs warm while she stretched her wings and got something to eat. When the chicks hatched, it was Mrs who was back and forth with grubs, and only when the first sounds of cheeping came from the box did the feeding routine speed up and Mr do his bit.
There was another pair nesting over the barn at the back of the house, so there have been redstarts flitting around all spring. Now we see family groups of three or four, so at least one brood left the nest safely. Whether they’re ‘ours’ or ‘them over the barn’ I couldn’t say. They move too quickly to count, and females and young look very much the same. ‘Our’ pair haven’t moved on though, and seem to be making a new nest under the eaves above the nesting box, out of the reach of beech martens. Can’t have too many redstarts.
Jane Dougherty
Bios and Links
Jane Dougherty
lives and works in southwest France. A Pushcart Prize nominee, her poems and stories have been published in magazines and journals including Ogham Stone, the Ekphrastic Review, Black Bough Poetry, ink sweat and tears, Gleam, Nightingale & Sparrow, Green Ink and Brilliant Flash Fiction. She blogs at https://janedougherty.wordpress.com/ Her poetry chapbooks, thicker than water and birds and other feathers were published in October and November 2020.
The Wombwell Rainbow 