Beautiful Bird Boxes!

Yesterday, in celebration of National Nest Box Week, Foxglove Covert hosted the Holmedale Community Nature Project's bird box building day.

These bird boxes will provide nesting places for a variety of bird species. Some boxes were made with small circular openings, which will be used by species such as Blue Tit, Coal Tit, Great Tit and Marsh Tits. Other boxes were made with larger rectangular openings, which are preferred by robins and wrens.

Putting up nest boxes is a useful way to provide safe nesting boxes for garden birds. Nest boxes are important because as gardens, parks and woodland become tidier and more carefully managed, there are fewer natural holes (such as those in standing dead trees) that birds can nest in. Similarly, modern buildings have few holes and overhangs where birds can make their nests. You can provide birds with a safe nesting place by putting up a box at least one meter above ground, angled slightly downwards (to prevent rain pouring into the entrance), and not too close to bird feeders and other nest boxes of the same type.

If you have nest boxes you still need to build, put up, or clean out, be sure to do so soon! Some bird species are already starting to prospect nesting sites and set up their territories for the breeding season.

Special thanks to Lizzie for organising this event and Brian for preparing all the materials and teaching everyone how to build thier nest boxes!