Hello, I hope someone can advise me. I've noticed on one of our external brick walls, there are quite a few holes in the mortar and it seems like there are house sparrows nesting in there. First, will this cause further damage to the house, eg, leaking when it rains etc? Second, if I wanted to repair the mortar, what time of year is safe to do this so that I don't disturb any nesting activities?
I don't really want to turf the birds out, but also don't want our walls leaking - if this doesn't cause problems I'll happily just leave them in there.
Thanks
Hopefully this may be their last nest of the season but by law you must wait til September time before you can start repairs ... you'll know if nest is still active!
This from RSPB ... https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/house-sparrow/breeding/
Maybe you could put up a nestbox for them nearby as a safer alternative?
2013 photos & vids here
eff37 on Flickr