spring cleaning?

Garden birds need our help!

By using native plants, wildlife friendly introduced species and providing extra food and water we make our gardens almost perfect for birds.

But we must also provide help with sheltering and nesting - and bird boxes are an obvious and important part of this. Tits love nest boxes as do robins and wrens and starlings.

The problem is that nest boxes fill with old nesting material over time. This is packed down with droppings, unhatched eggs or dead baby birds. Mmmm.. a delicious environment for hungry bird parasites. If we're not careful, we'll be luring our garden birds to make their nests in boxes full of mites and other unsavoury rascals.

So, at this time of year it is important to empty out those nest boxes so that your garden birds get a lovely fresh start to the breeding season.

Be careful not to inhale the dust from nest boxes and wash thoroughly afterwards.

And as you struggle to prize open that impenetrable nest box Great Aunt Hilda gave you seven years ago...

All nest boxes should have opening lids so that they can be cleaned out each year!!