Bird Boxes

In November of 2008 I put up a bird box designed and made by my father who must have made hundreds over the years. That spring I had great tits nesting in it and after the summer I inspected the bird box and found 2 eggs underneath a nest. I never saw the chicks leaving the nest but there were definitely chicks being fed as I could hear them and see the great tits coming in and out of the box. Sometimes it was really gratifying to see the great tit come out of the box, fly straight over to my fat feeder, get a mouthful of fat and then go straight back to the box. I really felt I was helping to rear the chicks.

Last November I put up another bird box about 20 feet along the wall at the same height. Both boxes have received quite a bit of attention mainly from great tits but also from blue tits. According to my father the size of the hole determines if either a blue tit or a great tit will use the box. I have noticed one great tit pecking at the hole as if to try to make it bigger. That time two great tits inspected the second box (box 2) and while one was inside a wren showed a lot of interest, seeming to jump up and down on the box while a great tit was in it as if to say, 'you're not moving in here!' So far I think I have had only a few viewings but no tenants as yet. Watch this space.

The photograph shows the original bird box (box 1).

My goldfinches are coming everyday now; usually 2 but sometimes 3 or 4. So avid are they that the niger seed is going down faster than the black sunflower seed.