Nest Box Challenge

Linda (Sussex)

Linda from East Sussex

Linda had Blue Tits nesting in her post box. She informed her postie about this who came to the door to hand her the post. Unfortunately, or fortunately for him he became a father himself. The replacement postie didn't know about the nest and put the post in the box.

Fortunately they were unharmed and the new postie was alerted to their presence as was the post office. Alternative arrangements were put in place until the young left the box. Although not a nest box, this is included in the Nest Box Challenge as it is not a natural site.

Neal (Kent)

Neal from Kent

Neal put up a nest box as part of Nest Box Challenge but for some reason, instead of using the inside of the box, a pair of blackbirds decided to do the next best thing and nest on top of it instead. This was probably due to the hole being too small for the larger blackbird.

Jackie (Shropshire)

Jackie from Shropshire

"We have a new box with a camera in it, great we thought, we have always had birds nesting in all our boxes. We put this new box where another box used to be and it seemed a little slow to become occupied. A few weeks ago a nuthatch started popping in. We have watched him hammering away inside and mudding up all the crevices to block out the light! Our worst fear has now happened and he has covered the camera hole!"

John (Cheshire)

John from Cheshire

"My wife and I witnessed an unusual incident in our garden to-day. We have been monitoring the progress of a couple of Blue Tits who where raising a family in one of our boxes. This being the 15th day since we first noticed them bringing small green caterpillars to the box, so we knew the chicks must be quite big by now. Imagine our astonishment to see one of the parents trying to eject what we saw to be a dead chick. Quite a struggle followed before the parent was successful and it then flew off with it grasped in its claws. Barely a couple of minutes passed before normal feeding continued to the remaining young in the box. In all my years birding I've never seen this happen."

Terry (Milton Keynes)

Terry from Milton Keynes

"This shows how a new box can be successful. I put up my nest box at the beginning of the season. It now has 5 Starling chicks that are about to Fledge."

Sue (Kent)

Sue from Kent

Sue was so inspired by Springwatch that she put up a nest box in her garden and attached a camera to it. During the winter months Blue Tits used it as a roosting box. During the early spring Blue Tits began building a nest and then laid eggs.

Sue has captured all of this and has the footage on CD that she takes into her class of 5/6 year olds, who have watched the whole story unfold.