National Nest Box Week (NNBW)

Ringing is an absolute no no at the moment, but I hope the winds will drop sometime soon. Recent blogs are as a result of a couple of calm mornings allowing just 2 or 3 hours ringing but the forecast in the near future still looks pretty awful.

So I thought it a good opportunity to finish off my nest boxes ready for putting up in the woods where I live.

NNBW was organised in 1997 by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) to promote conservation of our breeding birds and starts today February 14th. It is there to encourage all of us to put up a nest box in the hope birds will use them.

Over the winter months I have been busy in the garage making boxes, repairing boxes and I have purchased a few as well. In the picture the biggest majority on the back two rows have a 32mm hole suitable for Pied Flycatchers and also frequented by Blue and Great tits. On the front the small boxes have a 25mm hole and I am hoping that these will be favoured by Marsh tits. The two large boxes are Dipper boxes.

Where I live the diversity of birds on my doorstep is good. The river at the bottom of my garden has the Dippers and my neighbour has allowed me to use his woodland for the Pied Flycatchers as well as hopefully the Marsh tits. I ring Marsh Tits in my garden so I am looking at putting boxes up here as well.

The close up of the boxes above have 32mm and 25mm holes. Each box lid is secured to the base by twisting wire between the screw in the lid and the screw on the box. Red wire can be seen on the brown box.

This is the Dipper box. I have two of these and will be securing them to the underside of the bridges that span the small river at the bottom of my garden. The picture of the box is taken on its side. The entrance hole of course will face downwards when they have been fitted to the bridges.

This a start, 40 boxes in all. This time, next year I hope to add to this total.