27/04 Nest Box Checking

First Nest Box Check of 2016

Checked 137 nest boxes over the last 7 days. Quite a few trees felled by the winter gales some since I did a visual check in March. Some of the oaks at Snelsmore and Mount Hill are diseased with a fungi infection, the outer core is soft like balsawood and nest boxes had either fallen or were hanging precariously on the tree. The Snelsmore Winterbourne Holt boxes are usually all taken but so far this year some are empty. At Greenham and Mount Hill some are more advanced but this is patchy with three or four adjacent boxes with eggs while others have nest in various stages of construction; not as coordinated as in the past. Nuthatches, always in advanced of the tits, are doing well. It is normal in my experience that some species will change on the next inspection as the current occupier is usurped. Two boxes had hornet nests in an advanced stage of construct; surprisingly early; I quietly retreated down the ladder when the buzzing started.

Summary
Nest Boxes Checked 137

Total Occupied: 109
Species Nests: Blue Tit 18, Great Tit 11, Nuthatch 11
Nest under construction Species Unknown: 69
Boxes on fallen tree, damaged beyond repair and/or abandoned 5
Refixed: 3
Not Occupied 20