Our Visitor Experience Officer, Lydia, wrote this blog inspired by all of the nest-building that is happening on the reserve right now.
When walking around Pulborough Brooks and its different habitats you start to see different species favouring certain areas; whether this is the woodlark on the heathland, waders on the wetland or treecreepers in the woodland. But why is this?
Animals have adapted over thousands of years and developed specific characteristics to survive. Whether this is the use of a particular food source, for camouflage to evade predators or unique materials to build a home.
Within these habitats, animals make their homes and their nests to fit their needs which all are different shapes and sizes. Some search for very specific materials, like long-tailed tits who need moss and spider webs to build their nests, while some are more generic and will use what is available around them. Some animals make homes together in groups like many ant species and termites who even have gardens in their homes, but some like to live solitary lives like mason bees and grass snakes.
Below are a handful of animals found at RSPB Pulborough Brooks who all build their homes a little bit differently.
Swallows are small glossy blue birds with long tail streamers. They travel from sub – Saharan Africa to come breed in the UK every year covering 200 miles per day at 22mph. They are aerial acrobats and will feed on insects as they fly.
Swallows will build a cup-shaped, open-topped nest which is made from mud and straw, often on the side of barns and out-buildings. This requires them to live in areas where wet mud is available to them - resulting in them often been found on farmland, marshlands and pastures that are close to water. They may reuse an old nest from previous years and will patch it up with new mud each year.
Swallow by Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)
Pipistrelle bats are the smallest bats in the UK, in fact the are so small they can fit in a matchbox (please do not try this – all bats are protected species)! They are also incredibly fast and can move an incredible seven metres in one second.
This species relies on woodlands and they roost inside tree holes in small colonies. They sometimes prefer to roost in roof spaces in houses as it tends to be slightly warmer. After giving birth they will roost communally in nursery roosts with up to 50 individuals.
They use their sonar to aid navigation when foraging, often using the edge of woodland and areas close to rivers and water features where prey is more plentiful. Pipistrelles will hibernate from December until April but can emerge in March if the weather is warm. Usually, they will hibernate in buildings or holes in trees.
Red mason bees are solitary bees with a gingery, hairy appearance and are found here at Pulborough Brooks as well as being one of the more common species in gardens. After mating, they make their nest in small crevices between bricks and stones and line it with mud and pollen. They will lay their eggs in these cells and when the larvae hatch they will hibernate overwinter.
You can help solitary bees in your garden by providing areas for them including bamboo sticks, upturning plant pots and filling them with dry grass. Red mason bees are particularly good at pollinating fruit trees so should be very welcome if you have an apple tree in your garden.
Caddisflies are a diverse group of insects - there are almost 200 species in the UK. Caddisfly larvae spend the majority of their time in the water and are amazing aquatic species that make a home from whatever is around them. They use a silk that they can secrete from glands in their mouth to make cases (homes) around them!
If you find them in a pebbly river they will make their homes out of stones, if you find them in a pond with reeds and plants, they will use tiny bits of them to make a home!
Caddisfly larvae by RSPB (rspb-images.com)
Shelducks are a large duck (almost goose size). Many would think they would make a large nest on the ground, but these birds like to use rabbit burrows as a nesting site. Because of this, during the 19th century they were persecuted as they competed with rabbits that were a valuable food source at that time.
Their rabbit burrow nests are usually close to the water to allow easy access to food, which for shelducks include snails, insects, worms, seeds, and the occasional fish. Shelducks will pair for life and can live up to 15 years and will have a brood of up to 15 chicks. Baby shelducks are also known as humbugs as they are black and stripy white!
Shelduck by Ben Hall (rspb-images.com)
Grass snakes are the only snake in the UK to lay eggs. They love to build their home in areas that contain lots of organic matter like compost heaps and piles of rotting leaves. As the vegetation breaks down it creates heat, and it acts as a natural incubator for grass snake eggs. Although grass snakes like warmth, they can often be seen swimming and amphibians are number one on the menu. Having piles of leaves or having a compost heap will act as a great home for these slithery friends in your own gardens.
Grass snake by Graham Osborne
Lastly but not least is our humble hedgehog. This once very common species has suffered a disastrous decline throughout the UK. In the countryside they depend on connecting hedgerows so they can move around undetected (they can travel up to 2km every night)! In our gardens they are becoming increasingly segregated by fences and lose potential homes from the increasingly popular ‘tidy garden syndrome’.
They like to build their homes under logs, leaf piles and hedgerows. They build their nests using moss, grasses and leaves for a little extra cosiness.
Hedgehog by Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)