I have a thick hawthorn hedge at the back of my garden & was pleased to spot this blackbirds nest & watched as eggs turned to chicks inspite of marauding squirrels & birds...however only one survived :(.
All was well ...the only surviving chick was sitting on the top of the nest sunning him/herself...looked ready for first flight.
The next day there was no sign of the nest...is this normal?
Blackbirds nest - gone overnight
Not at all!
The empty nest should still be there after the chick/s fledge. Though I'm not sure what would cause the nest to disappear overnight - a large two-legged predator?
Nope don't think so. The nest was well hidden and deep into the hedge ( on the other side is private enclosed meadow land - doubt you would have seen it at all from that side anyway)
We have lots of crows,jays, magpies as well as squirrels. We also have badgers but the nest was so well into the hedge I doubt even a cat could have reached it. We also have foxes...could it be that? My husband found the remains of the nest on the ground eventually three or so feet away.
Rosalia you would be surprised how well cats can reach bird nests. No thrush or blackbird nest was ever safe in my mothers garden. The cat could climb through the thickest and highest hedge to get at the young chicks! :((
removing the nest points to predation by homosapiens
Cats, squirrels and the birds you mention are all possible culprits :(
All but the cats can be forgiven lol as they have to eat too
Don't think it's human Mark, as the hedge is only accessible by myself & my husband. I take your point tho' as other nests that have been attacked ( usually by squirrels)are left intact although you do tend to see egg debris. In this case the nest was sort of ripped out. Really can't be human tho'. We do have lots of cats round here as we live in the countryside they help to keep the mouse/rat populations down.... ( except for ours who couldn't catch a cold since she became arthritic ) I suppose a cat leaping for the nest could drag it down with the cats weight
I've had robins', thrushes' and wrens' nests pulled out by cats/squirrels in the past 2 or 3 years :(
I agree not human as you've now found the nest remains
but if the nest is 'deep' in a hedge it cant be pulled out by any animal mentioned
We have some pretty nasty ( & heavy ) wild farm cats round here I wouldn't put it past them especially if they were hungry. There's one mean one in particular with a thick ragged coat that probably wouldn't even feel the thorns. Reckon it could be him?...but I may be wrong
Well badgers can climb and they'll steamroller anything (joking here though)
Amazing what a determined moggy is capable of....
.....and I've seen magpies in thick hedges too
They'll weasel their way into a lot of tight spaces - and there's another possibility, well a stoat anyway
Mmmmmm no pine martens in Essex?? LOL
......polecat.......mink......
errrrrr
Don't think badger?..'cos the hedge has grown round a 6 foot chain link fence....therefore lot's more than thorns to get through.
Pine Martins...no :)...bit too far souf :)...can't understand why the nest was ripped out?
Don't know about stoats etc. This nest is in very rural Essex.
I emailed the RSPB & received this in reply:
very interesting LOL
I had a run in with the RSPB earlier this year. They dont give a stuff about anything other than buying up land.
Mmmm, though a close friend works for them I still won't join!!
Why didn't the reply paste in?
Trying again :)))
Removal of a nest is usually an indication of mammalian activity rather than birds such as magpies and crows. All the creatures that you name can be nest raiders and you could name several others including the blackbirds themselves. This is not predation but competition between females and the most dominant female will sometimes remove the eggs of another female. Avian activity rarely causes the destruction or removal of the nest but squirrels, foxes and cats will sometimes remove the entire nest and its contents
LOL
Thought you were saying the reply was non existent
They seem to agree with what we were saying then
Looks like it Philomel.
We have plenty of squirrels,foxes & cats!