hi
I have had my nest box in the same place now for 4 years and have never had a blue tit nest in it :(.
Obviously it is in the wrong position, but what is the right position?. I have it high up in the tree at the end of the garden well away from all my feeders. I have 2 new boxes which i was given, waiting to go up but am loathed to put them up until i know where is best.
Pakaba
i've read that it should be north or east facing to shade out the sun and to protect from prevailing wind/rain with an easy fly in at least 2m high. so i've put mine on the north facing wall of the shed, right up under the eaves but below the height of the adjacent box hedge. i have no idea whether it will work or not but am keeping my fingers crossed.
that's not really been much help has it. ::) good luck for this season. ;D
Hi Pakaba,all,
All nest boxes are taken by blue tits,and greater tit, on our site.
There is a running brook at my plot,and plenty of trees around the site.The boxes are facing all different directions ???,so maybe direction doesn`t matter.Their heights are all about 7ft/8ft,some with surrounding cover,some in the open,but all near the water/brook.
Hope it helped any.
Regards,
Mark.
Are there any cats about anwhere??
thanks for the suggestions :)
the box is currently north facing, it is about 8 foot up a tree, in the row of trees at the end of the garden, there is also a tree in front of it so it is sheltered.
There are cats around but not too many we don't often get them in the garden because we have a dog, could that be affecting their decision?... they're not usually bothered by him when feeding.
P.
Mine's on south facing house wall between bedroom and bathroom windows which was the only place to put it when we moved in (new build no trees) but it's been used every year ;) despite the noise my son makes in those rooms ;D
Do you have squirrels? I had to move mine from the trees because the s*ds took to sticking their paws in and digging for baby birds in the box.
Can cats jump on to the box? Birds won't use it if so.
Should be north or east facing - other directions can result in cooked babies if we have an early warm spell.
Try a slightly more open position - sides of sheds and garages are quite popular, just make sure they're out of reach for cats.
I had Nuthatches use one nest box last year. Fascinating to watch them reduce the size of the hole with mud. I was hoping that if I cleaned it out completely they would use it again this year. It was inspected several times but they seem to have disappeared at present, even from the feeders. I am hoping to get an Owl or Jackdaw in a deep box with a large hole. I think more likely to be Jackdaws as they are often feeding in the garden. I might nail a piece of bark to the tree trunk to attract Treecreepers which are often seen spiralling around the trunk.
I am wondering Pakaba if the box is to near where cats are able to get to it , or maybe you could try a south facing wall, we have our boxes anywhere except north facing its worth a try. ;D ;D
Pakaba
Have you looked in it since you put it up. It might be full of crud from bees, mice spiders etc and this will put the birds off. Suggest you clean it out and move it to face it a different direction.
If there is no danger of cats the boxes can be sited any height from 4' upwards.
Hi Pakaba
I have mine on a North facing single story gable wall, about 8/10ft off the ground. I have a cat & dog, but birds don't seem to mind. Last year was my first year, so maybe just got lucky, but good luck to you.
Have a look here (http://www.beautifulbritain.co.uk/htm/wildlife_gardening/bird_box.htm) Pakaba.
That's a good link alright. Here's one I got from the bbc mb.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals/birds/thingstodo/nestbox.shtml
Could be the size of the hole. I'm doing a job in my attic, a new tank, and bought a 28mm drill bit. Sparrows need a 32mm hole, it says...There are many sparrows around the back garden, and tits, but I cannot especially say which type, yellow, blue, coal etc
I put one up a couple of weeks ago, but no sign yet...
http://img48.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img25902xm.jpg
Your box looks identical to mine Dolphy. ;)
Hello and Good morning :),
Thank you for all the advice and links. :)
Job for today, remove nest box, clean it out, try to think of somewhere else to put it. I am struggling here.
We are south south east facing, (i think, its slightly towrds the way the sun rises :P) we get hardly any shade in the garden in the summer, except from the trees at the bottom end, which is where the box is, I have some trellis protecting my greenhouse (from my 3 children) which is atleast 7 foot high, i am thinking of putting it on one of the posts, it willl be east facing. not sheltered. but no chance of cats, just the odd pigeon who likes to sit up there.
I guess it's too late for this year now, but who knows...
P.
Not too late yet.
I've been getting a bit of action.
Cams on till 15.00 GMT at the moment, hopefully full daylight hrs by the end of the week. Waiting on a new piece of kit to arrive.
Hi all,
well, for ages I haven't seen any action around the box. I did see what I suspected was a blue tit in the vicinity but didn't see anything coming or going. The front of the box is VERY pecked. Today, I got an extension ladder to do a bit of work and it gave me a good angle to take a downward looking photo. I got all excited and shocked when the flash flashed. It's not too clear but there is life in there...
Is there a good or a bad time to look in the box e.g. morning afternoon or evening...???
http://img299.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bluetitchickens0yc.jpg
i had two blue tits pecking at my box today ....... can i expect them to take up residence soon ???
Hiya
I read your other post after I posted here...I honestly don't know. This is my first year with a birdbox. Going on what I've read/researched this winter...I would have thought it is too late...but then again if they are showing an interest, maybe not.
There is a radio show on Saturday mornings 10 -11am, nature/wildlife that sort of thing and they are doing a thing on bluetits, or birdboxes at least.
The link is www.rte.ie/radio/mooneygoeswild and they have a webcam on the go too. I tried it last week but it failed cos it appears I have the wrong software. Will try it again now and see what's what.
Can I have Real Player AND Windows Media Player on my pc at the same time???
here's the link to the webcam link
http://www.rte.ie/radio/mooneygoeswild/features/mooneycam/
thanks DG. i wouldn't have thought it was late too, but me being so far north, they might just be getting started !
i had a Mr Pigeon doing strange things on the shed roof to show off to a potential girlfriend today, she was having none of it though :P
you can have both Real Play and Windows Player and there's another player Winamp. at one time or another i've had all three installed with no obvious problems (apart from taking up hard-disk space). (i'm sure that's not an exhaustive list of players but they're the only three i know).
i'll have a go at your link and have a wee google too and see what i can find.
Put up 22 new nesting boxes this year! :)
Yes, MrsKP,
I couldn't get Real Player to work. To listen to the radio show - apart from on the internet, it's available on LW 252 and MW 567.
Regards,
C.
it'll all be in the settings DG, just a matter of working out a million and one of them. Why aren't these things simple !!!
22 Sketty !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! any action ???
just back from a couple of days away and the OH wasn't watching the box so i don't know if there's anything more to report ! :'(
Hi, try moving your box. We had one up a tree west facing. No interest in 4 years. we moved to the back fence behind some bushes last year and had great tits nest in it straight away and they have raised their babies in it again this year. it gets the filtered early sun but then is in shade for the rest of the day.
hey,
how 'ethical' or what good practice is it to take a photo of the lifted lid of a bird box? I've only opened it once, about two weeks ago, it's up a couple of months. Now there's some action of a bird coming and going, presumably the eggs have hatched and there is a family on the go.
thanks
I certainly wouldn't open the box whilst birds are nested in there. There's a good chance they would abandon the nest, and the young.
Aw, that's a pity, but understandable enough I suppose.
thanks
C.
Well, I haven't gone near my birdbox since May until Monday when I took out the moss which was 'square' from the shape of the box and with a little circular nesting hole! Ah, so cute. There were little bugs in the base so I left the moss on the ground beneath the box. The next day I was going by and about to show OH the remnants of the nest and I noticed 2 almost mummified bodies of baby birds. Aw, how sad.
Maybe I disturbed the nest with my one and only look in and caused their deaths.
Won't do it next year, may get a web cam instead
C