The past couple of weeks I have been fighting my way through thorny trees, brambles and over barbed wire fences to have a peek inside the nest boxes we have dotted around the reserve. The purpose of this is to check the condition and what repairs are required and also to see how many have had sparrows nesting in them. My nest ID only goes as far as sparrow vs. tit but luckily that’s enough. Sparrows fill their nest box to the brim! It’s usually right to the top, the material loose and there are often bits of straw sticking out of the entry hole. Tits on the other hand have more compact, seemingly more carefully made nests with moss, fur and feathers, often in a cup shape.
Other inhabitants of the nest boxes included lot's of woodlice and what I assume is a woodlouse "nest". If you know otherwise please let me know:
Something I didn’t have to look for, however, was this juvenile starling that got down the chimney and was flying around the office:
I took a very quick photograph before releasing it out of the window where it flew onto the roof.
There are still lots of butterflies flitting about the reserve in the late summer sun. Some I've seen have included this somewhat ragged red admiral:
small tortoiseshell:
and these rather cosy small whites:
I was also fortunate to see, and not stand on, this gorgeous wee toadlet on the path to the hide:
And last but probably least is what I thought was a massive fancy looking slug but is actually a common garden slug that often comes in black: