Get into nest boxes by Noah Walker

Nest box by Noah Walker

Last autumn I started making bird boxes for garden birds and raptors, in the hope that I could encourage more nests that I could record for BTO's Nest Record Scheme. If you’re a young birder like me, I would really recommend taking part in the Nest Record Scheme. It's a brilliant way to interact with nature, to learn more about birds and their nesting behavior and to help the BTO learn more about what is happening during the breeding season. By monitoring things like egg laying date, hatching success, brood size and successful fledglings, we can get really important information about what might be affecting bird populations. Also with temperatures rising causing mismatches between birds nesting and the abundance of food the scheme is crucial and can tell us what affect global warming may be having on birds nesting.

Having made nearly 100 passerine bird boxes and 5 raptor boxes I started putting them up in January. I started by putting up 20 in the nearest site on the top of Folly hill (a 2 minute cycle ride away). The main target species are Great Tits and Blue Tits, with a chance of Coal Tits and, if I'm really lucky, Nuthatches. For the Blue Tits and Great Tits I put the bird boxes in the normal sites on trees around 4m up with a bit of cover or foliage nearby. For the Coal Tits I tried to put them in denser coniferous areas with slightly more vegetation in front and higher up. There are also several Robin nest boxes that instead of encouraging Robins got a Spotted Flycatcher nesting in one last year, which will hopefully nest again this year.

Great Tit nest by Bob Coyle

The next site is a small area that I've been lightly managing and putting bird feeders up at. I've put 8 boxes there all for Blue Tits and Great Tits. I've also been placing them around my village for House Sparrows, which will be my main interest. There are several flocks of around 50 that move around 5 or 6 main areas of hedgerow that they're going in. To encourage them in, the boxes are in groups of at least 5.

Tawny Owl by John Black

The final site is the largest in Nuneham Courtney near Oxford where I'm putting 40, again for the same target species as the Folly. There are several types of habitat including coppice, arboretum plantation, oak and native woodland, coniferous wood and a Lime wood. I'm also putting up 4 Tawny Owl boxes, a Little Owl box and eventually a Barn Owl box. I really can't wait to see if they are used so I can monitor them for the Nest Record Scheme and maybe ask my ringing trainer to come round and ring.

Through the spring and summer I'll check the ones near me and in my village every weekend along with open nests, and the ones near Oxford every week to a fortnight. Every time I'll note the stage of the nests - whether it is being built, adults are incubating eggs or if there are young how well developed they are. Hopefully I can ask my Ringing trainer to come over to ring the Spotted Flycatchers and any interesting bird box nests like Nuthatches. Along with them there are the raptor boxes for the owls but also open nests of Sparrowhawk, Buzzard, Red Kite and Kestrel to monitor and maybe ring.

It's National Nest Box Week this week so why not build or buy a box of your own to put up? The Nest Record Scheme have produced a "quick start guide" so download that and you'll be all set to start nest recording too!  

Noah Walker, @NoahWal01