Bird Boxes are not just used by Birds!

At the weekend I went out to survey the Bird boxes around the pond and was accompanied by Richard who maintains some of the boxes.

While cleaning out the nest boxes as the weekend we discovered a family of Wood Mice using the box. If you clean out your nest boxes during the Autumn and put some woodshavings in the bottom, it is sometimes used by birds as a winter roost or small mammals may use it to hibernate in.

Cleaning out bird boxes during the winter period is important as the nests of most birds harbour fleas and other parasites. It is recommended to remove the old nests in the Autumn once the box is not in use. Avoid inspecting nest boxes in use. Only open it up if you've got appropriate skills and experience and are taking part in a monitoring project, such as the BTO's Nest Recording Scheme.