our first bird box

Few gardens have enough nesting places for birds.

There's not much woodland that has enough old trees in varying states of growth and decay to provide the nest sites that our wildwoods would have had before we started to manage them.

So bird boxes are necessary to help our hole nesting birds - typically blue tits and great tits. Our new site is no different to all other gardens. We do have the great good luck of having plenty of trees but very few that can be used by hole nesting birds.

So, today was an auspicious day. After endless hours solemnly trudging around the site with surveys and pencils and even more hours sitting together discussing building plans, I did something constructive for wildlife!

This is the time of year when I would usually go around my bird nesting boxes, mending and tending - this time was a bitter-sweet occasion. I took down the boxes from our garden ... and began re-siting them on the new site.

So here we have it - a venerable nest box with all that a box should have:

• a lid that opens so that it can be cleaned and nest contents examined (if necessary)
• a fastener so that squirrels can't get in and eat babies or eggs
• fixed securely to the tree so it won't shake or wobble but no metal screws or nails have been used that will foul chain saws
• a small hole so that predators can't easily enter
• and it has the luxury of a pond liner roof covering.

I've emptied it out and placed it out of full sun and checked that I haven't placed it on the side of the tree where the rain runs down. All it needs now is a proud owner.

I'll let you know how it gets on.