Tit-Napped!

Chirp Chirp

Parent birds of some baby blue-tits were totally unfazed when their young family was “tit-napped” for over a mile on the back of a juggernaut!

The birds were so calm about the situation that they carried on feeding their brood, flitting in and out of the nest, despite the fact that their tree-home containing their chicks was trundling along at a good 10mph down a Worcestershire country lane.

The blue-tits had chosen to nest in a prime 400-year-old olive tree which was one of 9 that had been hand-picked for the Royal Horticultural Society.

The discovery of the tiny brood of blue-tits was thanks to an eagle-eyed employee of the award-winning olive tree specialists, Villaggio Verde, who spotted the parent birds’ activities. “I just couldn’t believe it”, said Jean Yves Baril. “Both parent birds just kept on popping into the tree carrying grubs from the nearby hedgerows. When we examined the tree we could hear chirruping from the nest.”

“As soon as we realised we were carrying stow-aways, the tree was carefully taken off the lorry and placed in a quiet part of the nursery so that the blue tits could settle down after their rather moving experience.” Said Jason Hales, MD of Villaggio Verde.

Perhaps even more incredible was that in preparation for the show, this tree had been moved around the specialist tree nursery a number of times in the previous weeks. “I reckon it must have travelled a good few miles in total, and yet these blue tits stuck with it, and managed to find it wherever we sited it around the nursery.” Said Jason

This is one olive tree which visitors did not get to see at BBC Gardeners World Live Show which opened at the NEC in Birmingham last week. Instead it will remain at the nursery until the blue tits are fledged, under the watchful eye of the team at Villaggio Verde. Jason said, ‘The family of blue tits seem to be completely unaware of the commotion and are very happy. We look forward to counting the fledglings when they emerge from the depths of the olive tree.