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Post by carolann on Feb 10, 2009 9:24:34 GMT
Last year we put some more bird boxes up around the farm as we had new buildings up, a pair of Blue Tits are now going in and out of the one which is on the shed right outside the living room window. I have'nt seen them carrying any nesting material in yet but the pair are very busy throughout the day going back and forth. I took a pic of one of them the other day but cant find the pic just yet will post it when I find it. It seems a bit early for them to be nesting so I wonder what they are doing?
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Post by Tig on Feb 10, 2009 10:13:59 GMT
I have noticed lots of bits of twig and dead stems dropped by the side of our house Carol, I reckon something is nesting in the eaves already  The male blackbirds have started fighting, the bluetits are in and out of their usual box and the male robins seem to be in fine song! I think they are all home-building and mate hunting ;D x Tig |
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Post by Tig on Feb 10, 2009 10:17:51 GMT
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Post by Rosefriend on Feb 10, 2009 10:45:12 GMT
Our birds are really frollicking about here - well, the pigeons have been all winter, nothing seems to stop them, but in the last week so are the blackbirds, tits, wrens, robins etc. and the Bullfinch has already found it's mate - they are feeding together. I would be very happy if they decided to nest in the garden.
One thing that I am watching is a robin that seems as though it wants to build a nest in a load of branches etc that the council cut off and when they come to collect it and shred it they won't care that a nest is there. I may just try and persuade the robin to go elsewhere.
RF
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Post by Dutchy on Feb 20, 2009 18:38:04 GMT
Out here too the grey tits are out and about with the Nest box. Investigating blue tits get whacked about the ears.
Even at MssK they are bussy.
They are finding the best brooding places and fighting over good areas and once things go into cuddly state the fights have been won so they can concentrate on the good things in life.
Makes me smile every year. They change their song to a sort of dedim dedim dedim and it just says Winter is getting to its close.
I love it.
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Post by Dutchy on Feb 20, 2009 18:38:49 GMT
RF did you manage to make the Robin see sense?
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Post by Chuckles on Feb 23, 2009 10:09:27 GMT
I've always said I'd make some nesting boxes but have never got around to it. I've got some spare bits of wood knocking about. Has anyone on here made them before ? ?
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Post by Tig on Feb 23, 2009 14:08:56 GMT
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Post by Penny on Feb 23, 2009 14:10:21 GMT
What a great site, thanks  |
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Post by snowowl on Feb 23, 2009 14:27:49 GMT
I have 4 nest boxes on my back wall but they dont seem interested. They have been there a few years now but the only time one was used was 2 years ago by a pair of robins. You can imagine how excited i was. Heres a couple of photos that i have had in photobucket since the shed in the corner is were we have the brick circle that my OH built last year. Mummy and Daddy.  One of the babys  Even the fence was blue but its now green. The lilac tree is also gone now. |
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Post by Chuckles on Feb 23, 2009 18:41:44 GMT
Hey thanks for that link Tig, just the jobby. I'll have to find some time now to have a mad moment Anyone else going to have a go ? ? SO are your boxes sited in the right place, there is some stuff about siting them on the link Tig posted that might be useful  |
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Post by Dutchy on Feb 23, 2009 18:52:39 GMT
That is probably the first baby Robin to get away with sitting on an Otter ;D I made two boxes and so far both have been used by grey tits. The one at MssK I put up almost too late and I did not expect anything. It was occupied within days. Grey tits like to have a nestbox in or facing a tree so maybe that is why they stayed clear of the ones hanging on the shed. ( or the fact that that was meant for house sparrows ) The babies have to be able to crash land in a shrub or tree, not on the ground where they are easy food. |
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Post by Amo on Feb 24, 2009 9:26:35 GMT
OH has made them in the past but they had a buy one get one free offer in the GC so 2 for £8.99 wasn't bad really. We've also put up sparrow flats on the wall below where they used to nest before the fascias were replaced in the extension build. Hopefully they'll get the idea!! A little story for you... When we moved here in 2005 we didn't see a starling for love nor money. We though it strange but then read about their shocking decline and thought, sadly, that that's the way of it. Our bedroom is upstairs and has the sloping ceilings the outside gutters of which equate to about 4ft above the floor, a few inches about the headboard. In mid summer 2006 we started being woken at silly o'clock by scrabbling noises just above the bed and thought the mice had moved in. Lots of investigation (in quite a small crawl space by rather large OH no less) found droppings of mice but they were old and there wasn't the ammonia smell from living mice or rats. Then we caught a glimpse of the culprits!! We had a visiting pair of starlings! Our fascias are all pretty shot and the guttering is just as bad, all slowly being replaced. The starlings had found a gap (the other side of the house to the ever present sparrows!!) and had decided to move in. We thought it quite strange as it was one bird we had actually noted as absent. By the end of 2006 mum and dad had 6 babies, sadly one of which managed to get inside a spiral fatball holder and hang itself. I don't use them anymore! 2007 mum and dad came back and had 2 broods and were watched and possibly helped by 3 of the previous years. I think we managed to count about 10 but it was getting harder! Last year they came back again and had another lot, we think another 6. They nest on the courtyard side of the house and it's where the electricity and telephone come up to the house and they sit on the wire which is about 10ft away from the nest. Convenient eh!! Great for test flights and general observations, usually of the cats. Now this is the magic bit and if you've read this much, thanks for hanging in there!!! We are having the roof of the garage replaced this year and also renewing the rest of the fascias and guttering. Me, in my infinite wisdom ( ) decided that I didn't want it done until after the nesting season so they are coming back in June to do the work and sure enough, though I dearly love being woken at 4 in the morning by scratching by my head, the starlings are back exploring their old nesting site. They sit in the ash tree with the babies in the evening and we've counted 15 in total. At the moment at about 17.20 the sun goes below the horizon and away we go!! They do the evening flight for us!! Not quite to the scale of the advert in London but they are our starlings going up and down our valley around our tree and it's wonderful to watch for 20 minutes. And two nights ago the flock was much bigger and we actually saw another group come in over the house and join in. Word has obviously spread that our valley is a pretty cool place to hang out of an evening and all the debutantes finding partners are having a ball. I've never been a huge fan of starlings as they used to bully all the other birds at my Mum's bird table but that was 30 years ago and they have halved in number since then. I also have plenty of feeders to go around so everyone gets a look in. And it's certainly worth it for the aerobatic display at the end of the day! |
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Post by prodigal gardener on Feb 24, 2009 17:51:14 GMT
We were thinking about putting a few bird boxes up on the stumps of the hedge - will it be high enough? We did have lots of bird nesting in the hedge and I feel a bit guilty for depriving them of it  |
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Post by Jasmine on Feb 24, 2009 18:13:35 GMT
We put 2 bird boxes in amongst the stumps of our hedge KL - they are about shoulder height.
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Post by Rosefriend on Feb 27, 2009 13:26:14 GMT
RF did you manage to make the Robin see sense? Sorry to have ignored you Dutchy - yes I did make it see sense - went out mornings and afternoons and disturbed it building a nest. A couple of days ago the shredder arrived and all is now gone. RF |
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Post by Ladygardener on Feb 27, 2009 13:51:20 GMT
That's a lovely story Amo, I'd put up with being woken to see them. |
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Post by Dutchy on Feb 28, 2009 10:41:56 GMT
Lovely story Amo and well done RF ;D
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Post by Amo on Mar 1, 2009 21:22:07 GMT
I managed a quick snap of them the other day. There were loads!! I guess it will all stop when they begin looking after the babies and nesting proper. It's still a mezmerising thing to watch though.  |
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Post by Chuckles on Mar 18, 2009 10:52:55 GMT
Anyone got any interest yet in thier boxes. I didn't get any made unfortunatley, might be a bit late now. Probably something I could do when there is less to do around the garden and I could put them up ready for next year.
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Post by Jasmine on Mar 19, 2009 19:28:54 GMT
I don't think any of our bird boxes have been chosen this year - all those blue tits that visit the bird table have obviously had a better offer.  |
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Post by Jasmine on Mar 22, 2009 20:37:33 GMT
I was wrong - there are blue tits in one of the boxes - I saw them today busy flying to and fro!  |
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Post by Ladygardener on Mar 23, 2009 7:05:04 GMT
how lovely Jasmine |
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Post by Jasmine on Mar 23, 2009 7:32:40 GMT
I'd taken it quite personally LG and was complaining to OH yesterday that the blue tits were busy at the bird table but had turned their beaks up at all our boxes when he said there were some in one...and there they were! |
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Post by Chuckles on Mar 23, 2009 8:13:20 GMT
I was wrong - there are blue tits in one of the boxes - I saw them today busy flying to and fro! Thats great news Jasmine, about 6 years ago we had the honour of blue tits nesting in an old box we had on the shed. |
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Post by Jasmine on Mar 23, 2009 18:14:08 GMT
It is like an honour isn't it Chuckles?
They are funny little things - one of my friends moved and they dumped a bird box on top of the children's playhouse - it was wonky and exposed - blue tits moved in and survived the nesting season!
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Post by Tig on Mar 23, 2009 19:43:45 GMT
That sounds a bit like the one in our garden that the great tits nested in last year Jasmine! This year it is nearly derelict, half one side has fallen off, so I hope they don't try to use it again We have blue tits in the box that sits atop my washing line post at the bottom of the garden. I thought I heard the sound of babies when one of the adults flew in - isn't it a little early? x Tig |
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Post by Amo on Mar 26, 2009 9:16:25 GMT
Glad you are getting some interest. Not sure if ours will have any but we are surrounded by lovely high hedges and more natural places to nest. I guess the boxes are to try and entice them into being within our own range. I just know it's like Piccadilly Circus out there! Perhaps they don't want babies too near the supermarket (feeders) either.  ;D |
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;D