Was Just about to chop down a badly positioned Leylandii type tree in the
garden and discovered that's where a blackbird is bringing a mouthful of
worms to every few minutes.

I want to start work on the tree; but i dont want to keep peering into the
nest and worry them.

How long roughly should I wait before the nest is likely to be cleared of
the babies and I can check them?

On Sun, 10 Apr 2011 11:55:50 +0100, "john brook"
wrote:

Was Just about to chop down a badly positioned Leylandii type tree in the
garden and discovered that's where a blackbird is bringing a mouthful of
worms to every few minutes.

I want to start work on the tree; but i dont want to keep peering into the
nest and worry them.

How long roughly should I wait before the nest is likely to be cleared of
the babies and I can check them?


I'm not sure where you are since you posted to uk.rec and rec but in
North America it's a felony to disturb or destroy migratory birds'
nests. You should wait until well after nesting/mating season to cut
down that tree (well into autumn or winter).

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migrato...ty_Act_of_1918

(Apparently in effect in Great Britain as well)

I give you much credit for noticing the birds in the tree and not
cutting down and destroying a bird's home and offspring. They'll be
gone soon enough. Deal with the tree in the fall or winter. Every year
I see many people cutting down trees in the middle of nesting season
giving little thought to the possibility that there may be nests with
eggs or nestlings somewhere in the tree. I really upsets me.

FYI birds are not as fragile as some people think. They may fly away
when you get too close but they are not likely to abandon a nest. I
had a pair of birds build a nest in a planter on my deck last year and
nothing I did kept them away from it. If I got too close they simply
flew away to a safe distance and heckled me until I left, then
promptly resumed sitting on the nest/feeding/etc.

On Sun, 10 Apr 2011 12:55:50 +0200, john brook
wrote:

Was Just about to chop down a badly positioned Leylandii type tree in the
garden and discovered that's where a blackbird is bringing a mouthful of
worms to every few minutes.

I want to start work on the tree; but i dont want to keep peering into
the
nest and worry them.

How long roughly should I wait before the nest is likely to be cleared of
the babies and I can check them?



Allow 14 days for incubation of the eggs (if the food is going in every
few minutes it is likely that they have already hatched) and 14 days for
fledging, but please bear in mind that blackbirds will frequently have 2
or 3 broods between now and August.

There is an associated legal constraint which is covered in Part 1,
Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as amended by the 2006
NERC Act, which explains that

1)Subject to the provisions of this Part, if any person intentionally—
(a)kills, injures or takes any wild bird;
(aa)takes, damages or destroys the nest of a wild bird included in
Schedule ZA1; [eagles and osprey]
(b)takes, damages or destroys the nest of any wild bird while that nest is
in use or being built; or
(c)takes or destroys an egg of any wild bird,
he shall be guilty of an offence.

--
rbel

On 10/04/2011 12:55, john brook wrote:
Was Just about to chop down a badly positioned Leylandii type tree in the
garden and discovered that's where a blackbird is bringing a mouthful of
worms to every few minutes.

I want to start work on the tree; but i dont want to keep peering into the
nest and worry them.

How long roughly should I wait before the nest is likely to be cleared of
the babies and I can check them?



On a tangent; blackbirds can be quite friendly. On one occasion I was
digging up soil to make a small garden pond and putting each spadeful
into a wheelbarrow. A young blackbird perched on the barrow and
carefully inspected every spadeful of earth - I had to wait until it
hopped onto the side of the wheelbarrow again before depositing the next
load in there. It somehow knew I was no threat to it and had some tasty
worms / grubs for it in the soil.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

Kestrel wrote in
:

On Sun, 10 Apr 2011 11:55:50 +0100, "john brook"
wrote:

Was Just about to chop down a badly positioned Leylandii type tree in
the garden and discovered that's where a blackbird is bringing a
mouthful of worms to every few minutes.

I want to start work on the tree; but i dont want to keep peering into
the nest and worry them.

How long roughly should I wait before the nest is likely to be cleared
of the babies and I can check them?


I'm not sure where you are since you posted to uk.rec and rec but in
North America it's a felony to disturb or destroy migratory birds'
nests. You should wait until well after nesting/mating season to cut
down that tree (well into autumn or winter).

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migrato...ty_Act_of_1918

(Apparently in effect in Great Britain as well)

I give you much credit for noticing the birds in the tree and not
cutting down and destroying a bird's home and offspring. They'll be
gone soon enough. Deal with the tree in the fall or winter. Every year
I see many people cutting down trees in the middle of nesting season
giving little thought to the possibility that there may be nests with
eggs or nestlings somewhere in the tree. I really upsets me.

FYI birds are not as fragile as some people think. They may fly away
when you get too close but they are not likely to abandon a nest. I
had a pair of birds build a nest in a planter on my deck last year and
nothing I did kept them away from it. If I got too close they simply
flew away to a safe distance and heckled me until I left, then
promptly resumed sitting on the nest/feeding/etc.

Your blackbirds will most probably have another go when the present lot
have flown. Maybe a third.
To answer your question. You ought to wait until autumn to be safe.
I was out in the garden this morning levelling a bit of ground.
The blackbirds were there, picking out a few worms, but if I didn't make
any fast moves they came as close to me as is not imaginable. Almost to my
boots. Did they mistake my laces for worms? I don't know but they are
daring and as bold as brass.
You could employ a cat, and it is perfectly legal(only joking, but true!)
for some profound reason.

Baz

On Sun, 10 Apr 2011 14:07:06 +0200, David in Normandy
wrote:

It somehow knew I was no threat to it and had some tasty
worms / grubs for it in the soil.

Sounds like she trained you to dig up her worms for her! : )