So last weekend we were chuffed to see that Megan's bird box was occupied and I set up the trailcam to watch the box to be certain which bird it was...It was of course the blue tits that were nesting inside and the adults were often captured by the camera going in and out with caterpillars feeding the chicks.
However, moments later we see this woodpecker visiting the box. Now Great spotted woodpeckers are known to routinely attack nestboxes, especially those with tits nesting inside. They will drag nesting material out of the box and both eggs and chicks are lifted out and either eaten in situ or taken away for 'processing'. Although we have images of the woodpecker pulling nesting material out, thankfully there were no images of the chicks being pulled out.
Jays are also known to eat other birds eggs and chicks and as you can see this Jay was tempted, but perhaps he was a little too late?! I visited the wood yesterday and the next box is now empty - I'm going to believe they all fledged successfully, (ignorance is such bliss).
