Sunday 2 March 2014

Nest Box Weekend

Over the last few weeks I have been spending a bit more time at my old feeding station in the woods. I cleared out the old nesting material from last years nest box (we put up 3 last year and all were occupied by Great Tits or Blue Tits ) we also checked to see if they had been damaged by the horrific wind which some of them had, which gave me the idea to make some new ones. So yesterday on Saturday, me and my dad gathered some materials and equipment to create some new nest boxes, it took a lot of hard work but it was definitely worth it by the standards of the boxes.


We made lots of different types including low fronted, high fronted (this was an experiment to see which box they would prefer), Spotted Flycatcher boxes, Robin boxes, Blackbird boxes, Nuthatch boxes and Great, Coal and Blue Tit boxes. That's a lot of boxes!


This project took all weekend, and so started the second part of this project on Sunday; putting them up. This was probably a hundred times more difficult than I thought it would be. We didn't just have to put them up in the right places, but also load the 12 we made into a into a wheel barrow (along with a ladder) and wheel it through all the deep deep mud in the fields. By the time we got to the feeding station in the woods we were both exhausted so had a bit of a break while filling the feeders up (completely empty) before starting to put up the nest boxes up.


We did actually make 13 nest boxes the 13th of which was an Tawny owl box, but we didn't have the right equipment to put it up. The farmer ( yes you know who you are :) ) - as he reads my blog from time to time gave us two other Tawny boxes that he had been given some years ago but had never been put up. Here's the Tawny one we made below. Dad putting a sliding shutter in the back just in case it ever needs opening.  



We numbered all the nest boxes 1 to 12 and also made two Barn Owl boxes for my ringing trainer Peter.




Overall a brilliant weekend even though I was quite ill with a throat infection, but the question is now....

Will the birds use the nest boxes???

Speaking of nest boxes, Blue Tits have been roosting and investigating my colonial nest boxes which were supposed to be for House Sparrows.


And finally a big Happy Birthday to my brother Harley who is 10 today. Happy Birthday Harley.

Wild Bird Wednesday

19 comments:

  1. wow! those nest boxes are awesome! you guys do great work!

    happy birthday to harley! :)

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  2. Happy birthday Harley.
    Great tits are roosting in our house sparrow box, they'll probably nest in it!

    Cheers

    DaveyMan

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  3. That sure was a busy and productive weekend for you and your dad Findlay.
    I can see a new cottage industry emerging there, what do you think dad??
    Here's hoping that all those boxes are fully occupied over the next few months.
    Happy birthday Harley, I hope you had a great day...[;o)

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  4. Fantastic work, I like the cheeky Blue Tit. Lets hope those owl boxes get occupied too.
    Happy Birthday to Harley too

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  5. Brilliant to see Findlay (and a pat on the back for Dad Nigel to)

    Happy Birthday Harley I hope you had a wonderful day.

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  6. Those bird would not dare ..........but to use these great box's you have made.Great work.

    peter

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  7. Hi Findlay, I shall expect you to bring me a home made nesting box on your next visit.

    love Grandma.

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  8. Wow, you must have worked hard to get all this done in such a short time. They look really well made too! I hope you have great success with occupancy.

    A belated "Happy Birthday!" to Harley.

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  9. Great work Findlay. Nest boxes are hard work but the rewards are tremendous. I'm sure you will get Tawny Owl use the bigger box, maybe Tree Sparrow in the smaller ones and hopefully Barn Owl in their boxes too.

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  10. Good luck!!! Excited for you and the kiddo. Hope you have some much needed nesting for spring:)

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  11. Great work! I used to put nest boxes up in groups of three - on for the blue tits, for for the great tits and one other - it seemed to help prevent the tit species from using them all.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Scottsdale, AZ (and Melbourne!)

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  12. I like very much that you are doing this experiment. What a great way to spend the weekend with your dad.

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  13. That's a lot of boxes. It will be interesting to see if the birds like them.

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  14. Fingers crossed Findly, they are gonna be very fussy birds that don't use those boxes, good work.
    All the best Gordon.

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  15. That's a huge project! Well done!

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  16. what a great team effort making those bird-boxes too; am sure they'll be much used

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  17. Very nice, good work, and good for you! This will be such a wonderful treat for the birds in your area. I have many birdhouses and the Carolina Wrens and Chickadees roost in them during the cold months of Winter. I have heard of others doing the same as well in other yards near me. Hoping you get tons of visitors and new life coming soon ;)

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  18. Hi Finlay Wonderful hard work will pay off when the birds come and visit the boxes and know that it is the best place to prepare a nest for breeding. Love the Blue it peeping out of the box. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO Harley

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