17.Nesting

The nesting season is well under way. A pair of kestrels has shown an interest in the second owl box and I’m looking forward to seeing how well they get on with their barn owl neighbours. There’s no evidence of any barn owl young yet, but we have our fingers crossed. This picture gives me optimism that owls and kestrels can get on well.
Tree sparrows are busy occupying as many of the nest boxes as they can and the great tits are showing their usual preference for gaps in the brickwork, despite the numerous nest boxes available – one pair has even pecked a hole in the expanded foam the builder used to stop the starlings getting under the porch tiles.

I commented just this morning what a great habitat our old sycamore tree was, with ivy covering it to almost two thirds of its height. I watched a wren, a green finch and a pair of wood pigeons carrying material in to different levels in just five minutes and I’m sure there is a goldfinch nest in there too. But I had forgotten the disadvantage of ivy. Great as it is for providing cover it also makes climbing very easy and several years ago we removed most of it from the house when we discovered how easy it was for rats to gain access to the loft. This morning, as I was obsessively pulling grass out of the gravel, I saw a weasel scurry across the drive, jump onto the wall and disappear up the tree – just like Jack up the beanstalk. It was about twenty minutes before it came down and though it was not carrying anything I swear it was licking its lips.Birds nesting in the garden can provide hours of enjoyment, but they also command great deal of respect. We could all learn a lot from the perseverance of a pair of collared doves who, like Sisyphus and his boulder, add twigs to a nest just about as quickly as they fall out of the bottom. Or the male wren who lovingly builds several beautiful nests and then allows his mate to make her choice leaving the others unused.
I learnt long ago not to interfere with this wonder of nature. Having fixed my first ever home-made nest box in our first ever garden I was impatient for it to have tenants. I decided to make my nest box particularly desirable by carefully lining it with dry moss and in less than an hour my glances out of the window were rewarded. A blue tit had landed close by the box and was calling to its mate. With growing excitement I squatted by the window to await developments. After briefly inspecting the inside of the dwelling both blue tits were soon flying in and out, clearly preparing a home. Or were they?
When I decided to take a closer look through my binoculars I received quite a surprise. It soon became clear that both birds were flying into the box with empty bills and flying out holding large clumps of dry moss! At least I had helped them to make their nest a little bit cosier – it was just a pity it wasn’t in my nest box.