My desk is situated in front of a window which in some ways is delightful but in other ways very counter productive. Especially recently when I find myself staring out, looking for signs of spring in the garden. The cold weather of late means I do this more regularly and wear a bobble hat at the same time.
During one of these hives of activity I spotted the ideal place to put up a bird box. A secluded wall, out of sight of unwanted predators but in perfect positioning for my viewing pleasure. So I started looking into nesting boxes that would fit in with the style of my garden and discovered there is more variety than you might think.
For example check out this solar powered nesting box made by Oooms. The panels on the roof charge a battery that powers the light at night which in turn attracts tasty flying snacks for the birds, genius.
However small your garden is, putting up a bird box provides a great substitute for hole nesting birds that can’t find anywhere to nest. Many of our British birds depend on natural sites but due to tree felling and home renovations they are disappearing fast. Depending on the type of box and placement regular residents can include blue, great and coal tits, nuthatches, house and tree sparrows, starlings, spotted and pied flycatchers, robins, house martins, kestrels and tawny owls. Fingers crossed my efforts in enhancing local biodiversity will reward me with an owl…ok not much hope of that but at least it makes me feel like spring is near.