As spring is just around the corner the wardening team have been out and about on the reserve checking all of our bird boxes. We have 90 on site and they all need to be emptied and repaired ready for their new occupants. Staff and volunteers have also been busy making new boxes to replace any that have seen better days. The location of each box is mapped so that we can monitor them in the spring and summer as part of the breeding bird survey on the reserve.
We had lots of fun at the beginning of the week when we held a nest box building day as part of national nest box week. The thought of 30 children with hammers and nails was a bit frightening, but we got through the day injury free and everyone produced some great bird houses!
In the visitor centre we have set up our nest box cam again and it is already being used by a tree sparrow. We have had success in the last couple of years with the box being used first by a family of blue tits and then last year by tree sparrows. So come and visit us to get great live footage of one of our special breeding birds.
Tree Sparrow (Andy Hay rspb-images.com)