Does anyone else monitor bird boxes?

[daveO]

I've just started this year with a couple of boxes but it's been really fascinating watching them progress. Now the season is over I've taken them down for a clean and check before putting them back with a layer of wood chip to hopefully be used for winter roosting. Over the winter I'm going to put up another 4 boxes but I thought I'd post up some pics of the 2 this year because they were pretty interesting.

This is the first box, it's a deep woodcrete type with a nest platform at the back that's hung about 3m up an old oak tree. The adjacent field is used for sheep as you can see by the bedding material. It was taken up by a pair of blue tits and it looks like they all fledged ok apart from one egg that didn't hatch.

and for bonus nest box points it looks like once the blue tits had left the box was taken over by tree bumble bees Buried in the old nest were these egg cells and the remains of some of the dead workers.

 

[daveO]

The second box is a different style but again woodcrete as we get a lot of predators around here. This one was a bit odd, initially it was taken up by another pair of blue tits and I saw them on quite a few occasions using the box. When I opened it up though there was a dead great tit in there that looks like a fledgling that got caught up in the nesting material and couldn't leave the box. There was a lot of what looked like tennis ball fuzz in the nesting material so maybe some man-made threads got bound around it's leg.

The depth of nest looked quite strange though and sure enough underneath was the remains of the bluetit nest with the unhatched eggs in there. I don't know if the nest failed or the adults were killed or driven off by the great tits but it obviously shows that nest holes are in short supply in the area.

 

[Bowlander]

Its fascinating stuff, we have a few boxes around mainly occupied by blue tits and spotted flys. I have a dipper box on the bridge by our house but only has grey wags in it so far!

 

[Barn Owl]

Used to, often find a male bat roosting too, it's the females that commune i believe

 

[demographic]

Woodcrete?
I'm assuming that's sawdust/chippings and cement?
What mix?

Plus have you any pictures of the moulds used to make the boxes?
Interested now.

Edit, although after hitting Google it looks a lot simpler to just use scrap oak or western red cedar.

 

[daveO]

The woodcrete boxes are made by Schwegler, not cheap but they're pretty tough and are supposed to give a better, more consistant atmosphere internally. They're also predator proof which is the main point around here. I've just put up the other 4 as well as a couple of sparrow terraces on the house. There's no shortage of birds around at the moment so hopefully they'll be needed.