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Woody

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Woody

Postby Dr.Al » 16 Jun 2022, 09:47

In the first lockdown, I made three nest boxes. Two of them were very simple ones based on the drawings on the RSPB website (made out of Cedar of Lebanon as I had lots of it). They were designed with holes sized for starlings (as we had previously had starlings nesting in our roof and were replacing the fascia boards which would make it hard for them to get back in!). They were mounted high up on the wall, close to the location of the previous nest:

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Despite having sized the holes for starlings, a pair of blue t.i.t.s moved into the nest. However, they didn't stay long - presumably because of some starlings having a look into the box and scaring the blue t.i.t.s off. The starlings chose to move into the eaves of next door's house instead of using the boxes I made :lol:

The other one was mostly me experimenting with a few different techniques and was made with oak and lead, with the hole sized for house sparrows as we get loads of them in the garden:

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This one is placed fairly low down (about 2 metres from the ground) on the side of my garage. I didn't really expect any birds to move in given how close to the ground it is and given that it's right next to my shed door so I would be very near to it quite often.

However, having evacuated the starling boxes, the blue t.i.t.s moved into the sparrow box and their young have just fledged - I think this is one of the young'uns:



Link: https://youtu.be/H-rliJlOJFI

I think I'll add some stainless steel (probably) hole liners once the nesting season is over to reduce all the holes down to t.i.t size: some of the bigger birds have been investigating the nest box. I don't think they've been able to get far enough in to harm the chicks, but a bit of extra certainty feels like a good idea.


Link: https://youtu.be/OJoZjI2JBnk


Link: https://youtu.be/wPK3E7ZOe_M


Link: https://youtu.be/cT1GD2K9PKE
My projects website: https://www.cgtk.co.uk
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Re: Woody

Postby Andyp » 16 Jun 2022, 10:59

Bird box with lead roof, now that is posh.
I do not think therefore I do not am.

cheers
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Re: Woody

Postby Dr.Al » 16 Jun 2022, 11:07

Andyp wrote:Bird box with lead roof, now that is posh.


:lol:

It was mostly because I'd never worked with lead sheet before (and had a load that had come off our roof) and thought it would be interesting to experiment.
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Re: Woody

Postby Woodbloke » 16 Jun 2022, 12:14

A couple of weeks ago I watched a herd of starlings decimate our feeders inside a couple of hours :evil: so each one is now inside a 'guardian' cage. I had to make one of the cages out of copper wire from gash leccy cables as I couldn't find a commercial one that would fit.
The starlings have now cleared off and the little birdies can have their nosh in comparative peace - Rob
I no longer work for Axminster Tools & Machinery.
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Re: Woody

Postby Lurker » 16 Jun 2022, 12:45

IIRC woodpeckers will eat young birds if they can get at them.


Edit: confirmation……
https://www.nestbox.co.uk/blogs/news/re ... hole-plate
Last edited by Lurker on 16 Jun 2022, 13:04, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Woody

Postby Dr.Al » 16 Jun 2022, 12:48

Woodbloke wrote:A couple of weeks ago I watched a herd of starlings decimate our feeders inside a couple of hours :evil: so each one is now inside a 'guardian' cage. I had to make one of the cages out of copper wire from gash leccy cables as I couldn't find a commercial one that would fit.
The starlings have now cleared off and the little birdies can have their nosh in comparative peace - Rob


We have a mixture of caged and uncaged ones (off the shelf versions, not home-made). The jackdaws and starlings can do a good line in emptying the uncaged suet and mealworm feeders, but the caged suet ones and the sunflower heart and peanut ones last a lot longer (maybe partly because the bigger birds struggle to hang on to the small pegs on the sunflower heart feeders).

We like having the uncaged suet one as it attracts the great spotted woodpecker to the garden, even if the suet doesn't last especially long as a result of the jackdaws. We get green woodpeckers (and buzzards) flying over the garden regularly but they've never come into the garden as far as I know. The sunflower hearts are popular with great, blue, coal and occasionally long-tailed t.i.t.s as well as goldfinches (who showed no interest at all when we put niger seeds out), the suet is popular with pretty much everything out there and the dunnocks, blackbirds and pigeons clear up whatever is dropped on the floor by the other birds.

A few years ago we bought some cheap suet balls off amazon and the pigeons were the only ones interested in them, so now we buy the posher stuff from the RSPB. Fussy so-and-sos!

It all makes for quite a nice show out from the desk of my home office (aka the dining room) as the feeders are only about 2 metres from the window.

Lurker wrote:IIRC woodpeckers will eat young birds if they can get at them.


Good to have that confirmed: I suspected that they were trying to do so from the videos, hence the plan to make the holes smaller with a stainless steel top-hat washer type thing.
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Re: Woody

Postby Lurker » 16 Jun 2022, 12:54

We are plagued with grey squirrels. I have several nest boxes with reinforced t.I.t. sized holes, anything else would just be a squirrel dining table.
One has had two families hatched off. One remains empty and unloved. And the other has a large colony of bumblebees, which I am rather chuffed about.

The squirrels just laugh at squirrel proof feeders :evil:
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Re: Woody

Postby Lurker » 16 Jun 2022, 12:59

Couldn’t you design a reinforcement with that 3D printer of yours, Al.
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Re: Woody

Postby Dr.Al » 16 Jun 2022, 13:45

Lurker wrote:We are plagued with grey squirrels. I have several nest boxes with reinforced t.I.t. sized holes, anything else would just be a squirrel dining table.
One has had two families hatched off. One remains empty and unloved. And the other has a large colony of bumblebees, which I am rather chuffed about.

The squirrels just laugh at squirrel proof feeders :evil:


I've never seen squirrels in our garden, even though it would be easy for them to get into and there are woods not very far behind our house. I guess there's enough food around in the woods for it not to be worth crossing the allotments and coming into the gardens. We have a badger that visits every night to suck some worms out of the lawn and eat any big chunks of suet dropped by the jackdaws.

Lurker wrote:Couldn’t you design a reinforcement with that 3D printer of yours, Al.


I could probably make the hole smaller with a simple 3D-printed top-hat washer, but I think it'll look better with a stainless steel one and I'm pretty sure I've got some 50 mm stainless steel bar I dragged out of a skip a while ago, so it shouldn't be too much of a chore to make something on the lathe. Another job for the ever-increasing list...
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Re: Woody

Postby Woodbloke » 16 Jun 2022, 14:52

Lurker wrote:
The squirrels just laugh at squirrel proof feeders :evil:

Get your wallet out and invest in one of these :lol:
They won't get in! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORJXNXJTxUM - Rob
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Re: Woody

Postby Lurker » 16 Jun 2022, 15:16

Woodbloke wrote:
Lurker wrote:
The squirrels just laugh at squirrel proof feeders :evil:

Get your wallet out and invest in one of these :lol:
They won't get in! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORJXNXJTxUM - Rob


I have dropped hints for Father’s Day :D
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Re: Woody

Postby wallace » 17 Jun 2022, 08:58

A family of jackdaws have taken up residents in our garden, they have always nested on the chimney but never come into the garden in any numbers. Whenever I go out I get shrieked at by the noisy things. They've never done this in the 20 years I've been here. They have scared off the wood pigeons and collared doves that always nest here.
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