Saturday 12 March 2011

Nesting and Nest Boxes


Eighteen months ago I bought a few nest boxes In the hope of attracting some birds to nest. I placed them around the garden prior to last winter so that the birds would get used to them.
I did see some birds inspecting them from time to time, but none of the boxes were chosen in the spring for nesting. I thought perhaps the garden was too small and in the wrong location etc. This year I am delighted to have a pair of Blue tits using one of the boxes. Surprisingly it's close to my feeding tree on a north facing wall, which is not the ideal location and usually not advisable to put a nest box near a feeding area. I have noticed that the Blue tits seem to use the Sparrows as cover when going in and out of the box ! When the sparrows descend on the feeding tree, the blue tits arrive seconds later and then quickly enter the nest box. They have been doing this for the past week, so I'm sure they're nesting there. Winter may still be hitting us but the nesting season is well under way, earlier this week I discovered a ducks nest along the riverside. A timely reminder for people to keep their dogs under control during the breeding season !








3 comments:

Elaine said...

The first of many I hope Joe!! Hope the parents are keeping them warm today. BRR. Elaine

jayteescot1 said...

The duck is still laying and comes to me for a big feed of wheat almost everyday. I will be particularly interested to see how well the ducks do this year after all the good winter feeding they had! Sadly I found a dead female duck the other day, looks like it had been eaten by a mink. As for the weather it's.. @*!**$!! awful !

nest boxes said...

Love the Bluetit photos. We have several nest boxes in our garden but have not seen site of them yet. I am keen to glean more info on where they like to nest for relevant info for my website. They seem to nest quite close to houses and habitation and not be too timid