Dear All,
I wonder if there is anyone out there that can help me. This is the first time I have posted anything on this network and it is in fact the first time I have ever posted anything on any sort of “Chat Service” However I know very little if anything about birds and I am desperate for some help to find some information about attracting birds to a particular new nature site.
I am the Deputy Chair of The Carrbrook Resident’s Association, a village about 13 miles to the east of Manchester and two miles from Stalybridge which is a small town in Tameside MBC. We have just won £50K from the Natural Lottery to develop a Community Nature area in an underused area of our Village. The site was once a small land fill dump used by the local Textile Mill but has been “caped” for some 30 years. The plan is to encourage several deferent uses for the area including its use as a nature area and educational resource for local Primary Schools, which have all already shown much interest. We have also got the Local Secondary School to agree to use there students to make up some bird and bat boxes. Unfortunately the problem is we have no idea what species of birds we should aim to encourage to nest in our nature area.The site is quite high and surrounded in moor land and has an area of about 200 X 90 metres. There is mixed woodland over about 1/3 with quite a lot of oak trees in to one side. We are also lucky enough to have a village pond close by and reservoirs on the moors above.
So is there anyone out there that can advise me what sort of birds we should encourage and what sort of boxes the children should make?
Thanks for reading this,
Clive
Hi Clive, thanks for posting. I've moved your post into the wildlife protection forum as the tips abd tricks one is more for finding your way around the site rather than wildlife issues.
I've mentioned the request to our regional team so we'll see what comes of that but in the meantime you may want to have a look at the nesting box advice we provide on our website and a couple of blogs I wrote about nesting box location from a garden perspective.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/helpingbirds/nestboxes/smallbirds/siting.aspx
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/b/wildlife/archive/2012/11/15/now-where-do-i-put-it.aspx
http://www.rspb.org.uk/community/wildlife/b/wildlife/archive/2012/12/07/now-where-do-i-put-it-part-2.aspx
Without knowing the site I can't be that specific in terms of help, do you have any pictures of the site, links to maps or a website we can take look at that might give a clearer picture of the area and your plans?
One thing to keep in mind is that you may already have some interesting wildlife at the site so the first thing to do is to find out what you have and make sure the changes to the site accomodate or encourage the established species. If you already have any visitors to the site that are birders, why not ask if they could let you know what they are seeing in the area or ask the local BTO representative or county bird recorder if they have any records of interest for the site. You should be able to get the details via Birdtrack
I hope this helps to some extent and thanks again for posting!
Warden Intern at Otmoor.
Hi Clive, Ive just read your blog and it sounds very interesting what you are trying to do. You might call it a small world but I am just down the road from you in Greenfield! I would be willing to be a volunteer to help you to attract birds and wildlife into your conservation. If its any help I can tell you what birds I attract and what feeders I use. Once again sounds very interesting what you are doing so please get in touch if I can be of service,
Jason.
Cheers, Jason
Alan, this sounds very exciting to me! Plenty of opportunity. I'll wait until Clive responses but it sounds very interesting!
Dear Jason,
Thank you for your quick response my first question was defiantly answered, ie "is there anyone out there who could help?"
Also yes it is a small world! And I would love your help if possible.
In several reply I have got after my blog it was suggested that it would help if I provided more information about the site. Do you actually know the site I am talking about? If not
it might help if I gave directions so at least you could look it up on Street View or a map.
If you come from Greenfield along the Huddersfield Road and turn left at the Carrbrook roundabout, drive up Buckton Vale Road to the roundabout with the rock in it. Then turn up the right fork up South View. The site is on the right on the land up and behind the stone wall. The full address is:- Wood View, South View, Carrbrook, Stalybridge, Cheshire,SK15 3PH
In your email you say that you could tell me the birds you attract so if possible I would love to know what these are then I can follow other links that have been sent me to find out what sort of nest boxes we should be providing.
Below is a link to a website which also shows a consultation document about our plans and also I attach a file of a leaflet that we put out in regard to what we are trying to do.
proffittscic.com/community-project.php
Good afternoon Clive,
Thank you for the email and information. I know of the site and Im sure I drive past it as I go to work as I drive through stalybridge, but I will have a look on google maps.
I am certainly interested in helping you so please consider me as a volunteer. I have read through the link and it sounds very good, also the photo is beautiful green. I'll list all the birds that I see in my garden and also don't forget that Dove Stone reservoir is just a 15 min walk from where I live, so birds will no doubt come from there.
The list I have are:
Bluetit, great tit, long tail tit, coal tit, robin, mistle thrush, blackbird,starling, collard dove, chaffinch and dunnock. Those are the most frequent ones! They come to feed everyday.
Last year and a few occasions I have seen, great spotted woodpecker, gold finches (one of my favourites!!) bull finch (sadly he doesn't visit everyday) and have seen one gold crest and Jays.
There's always crows and magpies around the street too.
As Ian says in his email, the site may attract birds and wildlife as it is now. If its any help, I could pop up some bird feeders and attract them in and make a tally of what I see. Thats no problem for me.
Just a little insight of myself, I do work shifts on the railway and I do find I have quite a lot of free time to commit.
Many thanks,
Jason
Afternoon Alan, I was just listing what I have seen but I'm sure there's many many more, that I haven't seen. I have had nuthatches too, how could I forget??
@CP please add nuthatch to that of my list.
Alan, Jason and Doggie,
Thanks for all the advice and the list of birds, I am about to use your suggestions to look for bird box designs for the children to use. I will also keep you Jason in touch with anything that you could help us with, your expertise will no doubt be very useful.
Evening Clive,
Glad to hear you're getting some nest boxes for a variety of birds. I have put in a friend request should you need to get my details for any future correspondance.
Good luck with the nest boxes, Im not really an "expert" just a keen learner and enthusiast.