2021

I put up four additional boxes in the spring, made by our neighbour Bill.  These are lovely, solid wood and neatly made, as you'd expect from a builder.  Three are tit boxes, one is open fronted, supposed to be suitable for robins or blackbirds. They are ranged round the south side of the picnic glade.

This winter, I have had help from two Duke Of Edinburgh Award candidates, doing their volunteering with Nettleham Woodland Trust.  They were happy to get up the ladder and bring the boxes down then record the contents.

Virtually every box has been used, but I think some didn't actually have a brood raised.  

Only one had unhatched eggs this year, looked like great tit eggs.

There were no unfledged little bodies.

Two of the boxes had been used to cache fruit - one from the hedge between South and Coop Woods had chewed rosehips inside - perhaps mice?  The other was Bill's open fronted box, which contained a beautiful arrangement of alder cones, rosehips and rose leaves - possibly squirrel?

One of Bill's boxes - perfect round nest!

Cache in Bill's open fronted box

One box had a spider inside that I wanted identified, so I sent the picture to the Regional Co-ordinator and Mentor for Lincolnshire for the British Arachnological Society and she kindly replied that she believes it to be a Nuctenea umbratica - the Walnut orb weaver, a first for me.

Six boxes were severely chewed around the opening - squirrels again?  My dad has fixed these by adding an extra piece of wood screwed to the front of the box and drilling a new hole through it.

Two boxes contained tennis ball fluff among the nest materials.