Good morning. It’s 14 February so that can only mean one thing: it’s the beginning of National Nestbox Week! This takes place each year 14-21 February and is organised by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). It is aimed at encouraging as many people as possible to put up nestboxes in the gardens and local green spaces and has been running for over 15 years.
The reason why it is celebrated during this particular week is because a lot of our resident birds are currently busy trying to attract a mate. This includes familiar species that regularly use nestboxes such as robins, blue tits and great tits. Here at RSPB Lakenheath Fen, other species, that don’t necessarily use nestboxes, have now started singing in advance of the coming breeding season. This includes blackbirds, reed buntings and chaffinches. The great spotted woodpeckers that call the reserve home have also started drumming.
If you already have a nestbox that you would like to put up, please follow this link to the RSPB’s advice pages about nestboxes, which should tell you all you need to know. The most important things to bear in mind are that your nestbox should be placed at least two metres from the ground and should be either north or east facing. This is to avoid the brightest sunshine and the wettest weather.
If you don’t have a nestbox and would like to build one this week, we have a nestbox building event here on Wednesday 17 February. This is a drop-in event between 10am-4pm and there is no need to book. The cost is £8 per nestbox. This includes all of the necessary materials and the car parking charge for non-members of the RSPB. Please follow this link for more information.
If you are thinking of coming along to our event this week, nestbox building is great fun! It is a great way to build something that will benefit our resident birds and you will get a great feeling of achievement when you have built one. Here is a picture of Mitchell and Molly Leonard proudly showing off the nestbox that they had just built here a couple of years ago:
Image credit: RSPB Lakenheath Fen team
That just leaves me to wish you all a happy National Nestbox Week and I hope you have been inspired to put a nestbox up near you if you haven’t already or to come along to our event here on Wednesday. We hope to see you soon!