Ok, I know this is a second entry for today – but this gem has to be shared!


Nestbox, shown above, I saw today at my parent’s house. I was well impressed by the enhancement made by my Dad to his bird box! Can you spot it?

Since my increased interest in watching the birds both my parents have been enjoying them in their garden too. I have told them of the variety of my visiting birds using a variety of food and feeders. I printed a copy of this Blog for them to see it, as they have no PC. They enjoyed reading it and I think they took on board a couple of issues I had about Nestboxes too.

Hygiene in Nestboxes I highlighted in my Blog, explaining how important it was to clean out the box before nesting began. My Dad had said the birds hadn’t nested in his box for a few years now. I suggested he cleared it out removing the old nesting material and cleaned it with many rinses of boiling water. As a plumber he was used to pretty strong smells over the years – but this one was too much! He decided to replace his two story residence with two detached houses at either side of one gable end of his garage. They went up today. I am sure they will be fully occupied in a couple of months!

The gem – did you spot it? He added a copper roof to his new boxes to stop the wet getting in! We had issues with wet getting into our Nestbox last year which you can see in the post https://www.shirlsgardenwatch.co.uk/2007/01/new-nestbox-terrace.html . His two Nestboxes look very well and I am sure birds will be tempted in. He further added a small pattern on the copper at my Mum’s suggestion – this small detail could make all the difference! I particularly like the feature, with his boxes, of a fully opening door at the front – this will make for a very easy clean at the end of the year. I hope his enhancement successfully protects the box and that the birds use it for many years to come.

The photograph, shown above, was taken in my parent’s garden on January 30th 2007.