Today we had the pleasure of cleaning out all the nestboxes and doing some much needed maintenance on a few of them to make sure they are ready for the coming breeding season. We have over 80 boxes of various types scattered all around the coastal park, and since putting them up 2 years ago they have proved invaluable to the local bird population. One species in particular have really taken a shine to our boxes, Tree Sparrows, which is excellent news and have really helped build the population up in our area. We now have extremely healthy numbers of this vulnerable species, something we are delighted about. Once the breeding season starts we monitor the boxes to see which ones are occupied, by which species, and if occupied we see how many eggs are laid, how many hatch, and how many chicks fledge. If we get the opportunity we ring the chicks before they leave the nest. All of the data collected is then sent to the British Trust for Ornithology, or BTO, as well as kept here on site.
We have quite a lot of open fronted boxes as well as the traditional hole types
A lovely big clutch from last year, just what we love to see
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