Thursday 21 March 2013

Looking forward to Spring

Despite the chilly conditions and last year's depressing summer weather, we are still inexplicably optimistic  about spring's imminent arrival and John, Paul and PJ have made an assortment of nest boxes over the last month or so using workshop facilities at Valero refinery, Pembroke. Target species this year have been Tawny Owl, Redstart and Dipper. The redstart boxes were trialed last year in open conifer plantations and were a success in that three out of six boxes were used by redstarts rather than taken up by by blue tits and great tits, which seem to have the ability to spontaneously form no matter where the box is placed. With the permission and help from local forest manager, Huw Denman, we now have 30 redstart boxes in conifer woods in addition to another 15 sited in other suitable open habitat.

A box designed for redstarts in open conifers, Preseli


One of last year's redstart chicks from a nest box at  Ty Rhyg


Whilst there is never a bad time of year to put up a nest box, the newly sited dipper and tawny owl boxes are up too late for this breeding season; these are early breeders and many have already laid a clutch of eggs.
However they will become useful as roost sites straight away and especially once this years young become independent.

One of the dipper boxes put up yesterday

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