The Heath is now teeming with new life, including birdlife. This month provides the best opportunity to find out how the nest boxes we installed are being used. All it takes is to watch each box for a few minutes. Occupancy is confirmed by observing the adults flitting back and forth, bringing food to their hungry offspring inside. If you are really lucky, you may get a glimpse of the young.
During yesterday’s visit, I was pleased to discover twenty of our boxes in use, occupied by three species: eleven boxes had Blue Tits, seven had Great Tits and two had Nuthatches.
This is excellent news as it surpasses the occupancy in the previous three years.
It was gratifying to see the nesting Nuthatches. Tits are easy to spot as they visit their box every minute or so. Nuthatches’ behaviour seemed different, with several minutes between feeding runs. Patience reaps rewards, though, as the photos show.
While checking the boxes I also spotted other birds in the woodland:
- Blackbird
- Carrion Crow
- Long-tailed Tit
- Magpie
- Robin
- Song Thrush
- Sparrow
- Wood Pigeon
- Wren
The Heath appears to be thriving as a nature reserve.
Kevin Griffiths
