After our recent successful erection of bird boxes at the Attenborough Arboretum it was time to carry out a post breeding visit to Rectory Farm to check on our boxes there.
The first copse contained twelve boxes and I’m pleased to report that all but three had been used (or at least were full of nesting material). There was full occupancy in the two three-berth sparrow colony boxes, in one of which we found a failed egg which was later identified as a great tit – see photo. One open fronted box was in need of repair and one other was resited to take advantage of thicker cover. Four of the five tit boxes and three of the five open fronted boxes were used with evidence that one of the latter was being used by a small rodent, given the amount of fresh leaves and twigs it contained.
On to the second copse approximately 100 metres nearer to Eyebrook reservoir where nine boxes had been placed. Despite a good search we only located eight – quite where the last one was we still don’t know! Less successful breeding here as only two boxes had been occupied but this is a smaller copse and may not be as desireable as the other. It may also have been the fact that Phil from Rectory Farm had positioned a purpose built seed feeder rack with five feeders near to the first copse which may have had a bearing on the bird’s choice of nesting site.
It was decided to purchase some nest box metal plates for the tit boxes as it was clear a woodpecker had been chipping away at the boxes over the summer. We will make a return trip to instal them soon.
A big thank you to the members who completed the task – Roger, Jane H, Brian C, Brian P, Barry, Ben & Graham.
