Working in the woods
Beside my house, there is a small patch of woodland with a small stream running through it. It follows the stream for about 400m, and is surrounded by housing on both sides. Unfortunately, the wood is a hang-out for some of the teenagers in the town, and there is lots of litter and disturbance. However, wildlife thrives in the wood - there is a rich diversity of birdlife, such as Sparrowhawks and Blackcaps. Blue Tits nest in the bird boxes we have in the woodland, but there is one breeding species I am very interested in finding out about - the Robin.
But why Robins? Though they are very common birds, not many nest are found by BTO nest recorders. This is because Robins hide their nests well, and so they are very hard to find. However, last year I recorded 7 Robin nests, of which 5 were in this patch of woodland. Over the next few years, I am interested in finding out what factors affect the density of Robin breeding pairs, and what factors affect breeding success of Robins.
And so, today I put up 8 artificial nesting sites that will hopefully attract Robins, along with other species, in the coming breeding season. They are not like normal nest boxes, which are expensive to make, especially for a 14 year old. I used old wellies to make an artificial cavity; lots of 'my' Robins were nesting in holes or crevices.
I spent the morning in the woods finding sites to put these 'nestboots'. I tried to make them hidden enough to make sure people couldn't find them - thankfully the green colour kept them hidden, particularly amongst Ivy.
Some of them were even difficult for me to relocate only a couple of hours after I had put them up! Try to find the boot in this picture:
While I was putting up the "nestboots", I saw some awesome wildlife - a Dipper spent the morning feeding in the stream, and a Grey Wagtail was hanging around at the bottom end of the wood, where it is more open.
However, the best experience of the morning was when I was putting up my second last boot - it was beside a patch of Holly, and, as I was hammering the boot onto a tree, I heard a rustling in the undergrowth behind me. I turned around and a second later, a female Roe Deer appeared in a small gap in the foliage. She stared at me, before prancing into the clearing. Soon, two other females joined her, stood meters away from me. Finally, a beautiful male appeared in the gap. He stared at me from two meters away. I took in the amazing sight, absolutely amazed. He then joined the other three and they disappeared away. I was filled with joy, over the moon that such amazing wildlife was here, so close to home. Unfortunately my camera was in it's case, but even 18MP can't capture the beauty of some moments.
In the afternoon I decided to pick up some of the litter, as, unfortunately, it is a rather big problem in the wood. I only picked up cans and plastic bottles - hoping to get the other litter another time - but I still managed to fill two bin bags in the hour and a half I had before it got too dark. Hopefully I will be able to tackle the rest of the rubbish soon.
