House Raid

Out of the bird boxes I erected only a handful have attracted occupants. None of the open fronted boxes have been used nor has the Marsh Tit box despite its sawdust interior being excavated. 1 box in the meadow and two in the wood however have been occupied by Blue Tits.



Over the weeks I have been watching the adults bob to and fro, now I can hear the cheeps of young inside as the adults bring in caterpillars. Today however I was met by a sight of devastation. A large hole had been eaten into one of the boxes and there were no signs of Blue Tits or chicks.

No doubt a Woodpecker located the nest and decided he fancied a snack. You can avoid this by using metal hole protectors however it is my aim that my efforts supplement nature not dictate it, therefore I decided not to lend extra support to any tit family's, such is life as a small bird. The dangers are many.

Exciting Day

Yesterday I actually took some time to enjoy the land. Rather than work tirelessly at clearing back nettles, putting up bird boxes or scattering seed I took down my hide and set it up so that I could photograph some of the species that visit the feeding station I have set up. Blue Tits, Great Tits and Long Tailed Tits all visited and whilst I waited even a Kingfisher appeared alongside the creek.

After sitting for awhile I went and took a water sample and set up my remote camera on the main gate post. I retrieved the camera this morning and rushed back to look at what it had caught. The camera had been activated 35 times and recorded Wrens, Blackbirds, Rabbits, Wood Mice and the piece de resistance a Badger!

I suspected Badgers frequented the site given a few smudged footprints. Bearing this in mind I baited the area in front of the camera with peanuts, a badgers favourite food.

Redpoll

As part of my sunday morning route I came across a small flock of Redpoll. They have thrown up an interesting exercise in identification as I struggle through the various subtleties of sub-species differences.

Whats in your garden?

Over Christmas I bought an infra red camera. Its a great little device that has an 8MP Camera that can take either still or short film clips. I have been trying it out so far in the garden before trialling out in the wild. So far I have discovered mice and hedgehogs.

Work continues

Exactly a month has passed since I seriously began to work on developing Saxon Mill Carr and things are really starting to take shape.

In the past 30 days a lot of the materials I had ordered arrived and so I have slowly been working on putting them in place.

Work today consisted of putting up a further two nest boxes and planting some trees



The first trees to be planted were a Sessile Oak and 3 Bird Cherries. Oaks are the countries most important species for supporting invertebrate life and Bird Cherry trees grow well on damp ground and produce berries in the autumn that are eaten by many species of bird.


For the last 3 weeks I have also been conducting a detailed tree survey. I have recorded the location of approximately 213 trees on the site. I used a GPS to plot their exact position and noted down their species. Below is a preliminary map of the results.

Work begins

It is a New Year and with it comes a renewed chance to make a difference. As regular readers will be aware I have taken over managing a piece of wet woodland on the Avon. It is my aim to make this even more of a haven for wildlife than it is already.

After many months of planning and thinking I have now reached the doing phase. Apart from some Himalayan Balsam control I have done little but arrange the fencing. With an assigned budget of £150 I have invested in a number of bird boxes, bat boxes and some plants.

The first nest box arrived on New Years Eve and so this morning I went out to put it up. The box, bought from CJ Wild Bird Foods is a specialised box designed to encourage Willow Tits. It is like any normal box but as Willow Tits like to excavate a little the interior is filled with sawdust.

I went down mid-morning and put the box up at a medium height with an easy flight path to and from it. It was screwed to a Willow tree and was positioned to face north this keeps the box away from the prevailing wind and means no direct sunlight will over heat it in the summer. Now is a good time to put up boxes. The breeding season can start as early as February and birds like to get accustomed to new objects in their neighbourhood.


After checking it was secure I then spent a little time exploring the previously overgrown parts of the site. I found a fallen willow branch that had snapped off in the winds. Some of its shoots were still in bud and so I carefully cut them off. I had read that Willow so readily roots that you can propagate them merely by sticking the branches into the ground. I took about ten of these budding branches in to the meadow scrub where a number of willows have naturally begun to grow. I pushed them into the ground around these other trees, it will be interesting to see if the tale is indeed true and they take.

With all the recent flooding a lot of litter has been left behind and so I spent a little time gathering polystyrene, beer cans and pop bottles from just a small stretch even so I quickly filled a black sack. Several more visits are needed to fully clear up before the next flood washes up more human detritus.

I await now the rest of my nest boxes and the hedgerow plants I have ordered, more of that later though.
All in all a great morning, it feels good to actually be doing something after all this time.