Spring cleaning

New year was the time to clean out the nest boxes again.  National Nest Box Week isn't until a month from now but I thought I would get ahead of the game.  Every year I plan to keep a closer eye on the boxes to see what is using them but by late spring / early summer it isn't always easy to see some of them and there is a lot else to do.  So it is interesting to check on which ones have been used and by which birds.

This is the typical appearance of a tree sparrow nest.  It is mostly grass and feathers and is packed to the roof.  The birds continue to add to it as the season progresses so by the time they get to their third brood it is a wonder the chicks can get out.

Several empty tree sparrow boxes looked like this.  I don't know if the birds changed their minds or if they were just practising.  They sometimes carry in nest material well before the nesting season .  Perhaps they decided they preferred a different box.

The three box terrace was very busy last summer with at least two broods in the left hand box.  I am not sure why the middle box wasn't completed.  Perhaps one of the pair was predated before they could finish the nest.

Two other tree sparrow boxes each contained an unhatched egg.  I presumed the others hatched and the chicks fledged OK.

This blue tit nest contained two eggs and looks as though it never had more than that (it is very neat - any growing chicks would mess it up a lot as they got bigger and exercised their wings before leaving).  I expect one of the parents was predated before any more eggs could be laid.

Another blue tit nest contained two small skeletons.  From their size I reckon the chicks were fairly well grown.  I expect this is also down to loss of a parent.

I haven't had much success with open fronted boxes in recent years, especially when on a tree like this.

When I first moved here nearly 30 years ago I used to have spotted flycatchers nesting in the garden every year.  This photo, scanned from an old print, was taken through the kitchen window in 1990.  I haven't seen spotted flycatchers here since 2000 but I still keep a couple of open-fronted boxes in the hope that they may one day return.

A couple of well hidden open-fronted boxes do a bit better.  This one is small and tucked away on a fence.  I expect this was a wren's nest.

Nearby is this one, which often houses robins but this was probably also a wren's nest.  The male builds several nests so is is hard to say whether either of these was used.

Lots of other birds nest in the garden but not in boxes.  There were several starling nests and tree sparrow nests in tree holes and plenty of other nests in hedges and ivy, etc.  Of 27 boxes in the garden last year 7 had tree sparrow nests, 6 had blue tit nests (3 used, 1 abandoned with two eggs, 1 abandoned with two skeletons, and one abandoned before completion - the camera box), 2 had wren nests and 12 were not used.  Overall that is 56% occupancy.  I have been experimenting with different sizes and shapes, depending on what scraps of wood were available and my impression is that the smaller boxes were less successful.  There is room in the garden for a few more boxes so I'll make some up in the next few days.