Nest Boxes .....

Judgement Day

Ditch - I was only poking fun at you and Trebor re: the 'private' nature of the thread. As for Tony Soper, I know nothing about his endorsing of plastic nestboxes but I do know that I found his Birdtable book inspirational when I was a young lad - about 100 years ago. I know that you have answered many of the points raised in this thread very adequately but I still feel that the casual browser might still come away with the idea that all needs is a plank, a drill and a few nails and Bob's your uncle. As for me being the one to have a serious discussion about nestboxes......I think I will be doing well to organise a CCTV one for my kids this year. Any recommendations - it has to be full colour and capable of accommodating 'nutcrackers'.....just kidding on the last point. I have offered to supply the local library here with a Swift box with CCTV but whether it will happen I don't know. Anyway sorry if you felt that I was attacking you or your thread - I have enjoyed it and your contributions in particular.

E39MSport

@JD
I think I posted yesterday or day before with very useful link to a thread from last year.

Its easy to do.

Get the kit as specified from ebay (very cheap < 10 Eur) and stick it in the box. Add a window (hole high up covered with semi opaque plastic - like plastic milk container).

I wired mine in through a vent. Year before I had it wred to the TV.
Last year I got hold of a video card (20 Eur) and fed the picture to a computer and using some free software I was able to stream it to the internet and watch it while in the office etc. Great !!

Please have a look at the thread and PM me if you like.

Cheers,

(edit: - linky http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=70250019&postcount=6 )

Ditch

JD; That was cruel timing! I replied to ye first post in a mad rush, because I had to get my horse pen cleaned out. Then, just as I stood up, ye next one came in! I've been having anxiety attacks as I shovelled; Simply gagging to get back here and talk boxes with ye!

Swift box? That did it for me! What sort ye planning on? I believe there's at least three types out there. Off the top of my head? One or two fix under the eaves. Another one feeds into the roof space, by a tunnel. That leads into a lidded box which the observer can access for recording or ringing.

Then, of course, there's those 'ridiculous' Swift Tiles! :eek: I'm sure ye'll have seen them. What are they? £70.00 a piece?! FFS! And what earthly good having just one, on one roof? Not a lot, unless there's already plenty of swifts nesting around ye. Then a box would do fine.

Anyway, please do kick off about ye swift box. We can have a good chat about those. This is exactly what I've been searching for. Most of my life's been like supporting some unheard of football team, fanatically. No bugger wants to hear about it!

Regards the plank and bag of nails notion? I don't know; Most nature reserves use exactly that method. I know of Nest Recorders who have literally hundreds of boxes out. And ye can bet ye life they're all knocked up with nails too. They work.

On the flip side, of course, we have the Schwegler stuff. Much (Not All, in my personal opinion) of their range is to die for! Unfortunately, we can't get them here and ordering them in would be crippling, due to their weight

Then there's the boxes I used to build. You'd have liked them! Christ, I went overboard! Planed timber. Given about five coats of Sadolin, till a bloody knife would bounce off it, it was so hard and lacquered. Put together with brass screws and ..... wait for it ....! Cup Washers!!! I sh!t ye not!

I used to sell them, to people with plenty of spare folding. Or I'd simply give them away, to OAP's, schools, anyone I figured could provide a good, secure spot for one.

'Unfortunately', I left my boxes in situ, when I moved. I've been in this place coming up five years now. Now I've got the measure of what the local birds are up to, I'm about ready to start offering them boxes.

Blue, Great and Coal tits here. I have starlings which I have to evict as I'm fixing the roof. I'll get them in a box in the exact spot. Rather fancy a Jackdaw one too. My cow shed's ideal for Barn owl. But, we have no barn owls round here. If there were, they could use my shed without any boxes anyway.

Anyway, I'm going on again, aren't I? It's enthusiasm

Think I'll write up one about Starling boxes next. We desperately need more starling boxes up.

Oh; Nest box cam's? Sorry. Know absolutely nothing about them. I don't advise on what I don't know about :cool:

Ditch

This is actually a personal and heart felt plea to anyone reading this: Please could ye put up a nest box for starlings?

These birds are in serious decline ~ despite the impression the swirling clouds we see as winter approaches may give. And it's got a lot to do with their simply having no where to nest.

Modern housing 'builds them out'. UPVC Facia and so forth. So, whether you're in central Dublin or way out west, providing a box will give one more pair a place to nest. Here's how .....

There's no hard and fast rules on the size of a starling box. But, it should be 'tall'. They like a bit of depth.

When I make one, I go for about the 9" square mark. I like to allow about an 8" internal floor for them. They're 'messy' nesters, liking a bit of surrounding to the nest bowl. And the young grow big before they leave. Give them room.

Height? At least a foot. Anything up to fifteen inches wouldn't be ridiculous if, eg. ye had a handy box which could be converted.

The entry hole wants to be 2". Now, I have a whole range of top quality hole saws here. They're not cheap! So, if ye don't have such tools? Why not ask a local wood worker to pop a hole through what's to be ye front plank? Inch or two from the top.

Failing that? Ye could cut the hole out with a coping saw or even just cut a square block out of the top of the front board. Not much is carved in stone about nest boxes

Here's a tip: Wrap it in roof felt. Staple roofing felt on with a bit of care and consideration and ye'll get a very well insulated box. But, more than that; It'll present an appearance any self respecting starling will fall in love with at first sight.

I also like to use flat tops on mine. Why? Because the male bird will find the box. Inspect it. See that it is good. Then he'll perch on top of it, singing his heart out to tell all the local females what a fantastic pad he has lined up for them

Best sort of place to site a starling box is, basically, as high as ye can get it. Apex of the side eves, if ye semi / detached. On the side of an unused chimney. Under the front or back eves would do. Only, due to the consequences of it ever coming down on someone's head? I wouldn't put one up above the street!

Good thing about a starling box is that ye can hope for a fast take up. They're all about and all looking for ever harder to find nest sites. Bang one up now and ye could well have it in use in April.

Ditch

Gotta be a winner, yeah? They're here. They're spreading. They're breeding.

Everybody wants them. So, why not get the red carpet out? Be prepared to make them feel welcome and at home when they come to check out your area.

What we need here is, in fact, rather similar to the starling box. Only, we have rather more exact dimensions offered. Not that they present any difficulty what so ever. Standard, readily available, rough sawn planks from ye local builders merchant will be fine.

Ye want to make a 'tall' box then. Sixteen inches high. Only, it's skinny too. Internal base wants to be five and a half inches square.

Now, here's the funny bit: GSW is one of those few birds who insists on digging out his own hole. Where as most birds will look into the hole. See a perfect, ready made chamber. Think, " This'll do nicely! " and move in. The GSW doesn't like what he'd consider a 'second hand' hole.

So, we have to be a bit crafty. My 1993 edition of the BTO guide suggests filling the box with a block of polystyrene :eek: ?!

I mean, can you imagine it? Setting these damn things up all over the place and having woodpeckers ucking out all that white snow and dropping it everywhere? Environmental criminality!

I don't know if any later edition has come up with a better idea. But, I once e mailed them my own suggestion. I suspect it got lost in the system though :rolleyes:

I've heard people saying one should stuff rotten log inside. Yeah? Like, where ye gonna find enough rotten logs to mess about, paring and squaring, to fit how ever many boxes ye want to put up?

No. I have what I believe is a better solution than either. Quite simply; Mix up some plain flour and water paste. Stir that into a bucket of saw dust. Trowel that into the nest box and let if set.

I base this idea on a trick I dreamed up for making taxidermy displays. I'd mix PVA glue with sawdust. (I also added some paint, for colour) Result was a rather convincing " earth " which set nice and hard.

I wouldn't want to expose birds to PVA. But flour paste and sawdust on the forest floor is about as harmless and biodegradable as it gets

What I suggest is ye fill the hole box. Floor to lid. Then cut the 2" hole ~ usual inch of two down from the top. Only, let the hole saw burrow in a little bit.

The idea is to present the woodpecker with a 'natural' hole in a 'tree' which he can then excavate to his own satisfaction. Having only a small cavity inside will also preclude starlings from taking over. Woodpecker won't nick their boxes. Let's keep it fair.

Positioning? Height is really important with these birds. They like to feel secure. And that means high up and with peace and quiet. No good putting one six foot up a tree next to a foot path.

We're really talking fifteen foot, minimum here. Take a friend, a mobile phone and a ladder. Go get yeselves 'lost' in a hardwood forest. Put ye box up there.

I say 'box' but, this is one species where it really is the more the merrier. For one thing, the more boxes ~ within reason ~ ye put in a wood, the more chance an incoming GSW may find one and decide it's suitable.

Another thing is though, that these birds are said only to use a nest once. So, if one uses one of ye boxes this year? That's ye lot for that box. Ye'll need to take it home and repack it. Then put it back up somewhere a bit different from last time.

Otherwise, I suppose, ye could always leave it there and see if a desperate enough starling will take it over? But, ye know me by now; I'm a bugger for giving the bird as near to exactly what it wants as I can. I'd rather put up both types of boxes. Starlings nest in woods too, ye know

sables2

Cheers Ditch. 6"x6" base it is. I'll start over again. Now youv'e made me feel very guilty. The poor fella's...eh, blue tits i mean. One thing: whats the recommended wood you would use? At the moment i'm using: 3/4" marine ply-wood....Have you any recommended 'BT bird box making' sites for making it step by step too....

Judgement Day

Ditch - These are two of the Swift nest box sites I was looking at last year. I grew up in Bray near a tall building which was home to a large number of Swifts every year and to this day their screaming sound reminds me of happy days. They always arrive last which, to me, means Summer is really here and they leave first which, to me, indicates the end of Summer.

http://www.londons-swifts.org.uk/Nestboxes&Attraction.htm

and http://www.swift-conservation.org/

and here a very brief audio taste of Summer again courtesy of the RSPB: http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/swift/index.aspx

Ditch

Sables; Feeling guilty?! To hell with that! Feel ten foot tall and like a saint: Because you're making the effort

What good are any tips I pump out here if no one takes a blind bit of notice and simply can't be arsed to have a go? It's people like you, who are ready to Do Something that I'm trying to reach. People like you make it worth while. Make it happen. Thank you

3/4" Marine? Oh dear god! I'm going weak at the knees here! You're talking Rolls Royce nest boxes! Boxes made with that stuff will be permanent fixtures.

Regards a blue print? The usual way of demonstrating a nest box plan is to work from a plank. Have ye got a circular saw, or similar? I mean; Can ye strip that ply into lengths?

When ye dealing with stuff as expensive as marine, it's important to figure out the cuts. But, most 'boxes start as a long strip of wood and it's then simply a matter of slicing that 'plank' into the right bits.

What size sheets are ye dealing with? Let me know and I'll try to work out the cutting plan for the best results there.

This is the sort of discussion I started this thread for! Now we're 'Comparing Notes' and getting into the subject. Reezultt!

sables2

Thanks for the 'favourable' and encouraging comments Ditch . Well, i'm using 3/4" marine...and your right - it's bloody dear stuff!! The lenght i'm dealing with is roughly: 4'x4' sliced in two obviously. I've NO circular saw. So this is causing me all sorts of problems, etc. IE: Can't get the 'straight' edged bevel for the roof. Now my contraption of a roof is like a roof from the Roman age times gone bye...:o:o. Will i still use the 4"x4" base? Then i'll have to feel guilty all over for our feathered blue tits friends squeezed in to their 'toilet area'...:eek::eek:

trebor28

Ditch,
in relation to starlings should they not be learning to adapt to their new conditions of not being able to nest in houses??
nothing against starlings but they have obviously adapted to nesting in humans residences out houses etc, will the not adapt back to where ever it was they nest before??

Ditch

JD; I'm loving it! It could be that I've finally found a forum where some people give a toss more about actually doing something for the birds, other than just 'watching' them

" London Swifts "; Fantastic site, isn't it? I came across it a couple of years ago, myself. Sadly, I was just too damn late I'd 'rescued' a baby swift who'd fell out of the nest above my 'Local'.

Kept it going ~ against all odds ~ for the best part of a week. It appeared to be doing fine. Every morning it was still alive was a blessing to me.

Then, about the day that my nagging at Google brought me to London Swifts, I read how feeding them meat was a sure fire way of killing them

My little mate had been lovingly hand fed minced beef. Scoffed it down and seemed to thrive on it. Broke my heart to find him stiff and cold that day. All praise to sites like LS who teach us what's right

Now, I've had a long day. I'll look at how LS has developed since I last read them. I'll also examine Swift Conservation.

I must say, I'm astounded at what I seem to have seen, as I had a click of the mouse look at both sites tonight. Like, Wow! So Many swift box designs! (Drool!)

I'm some years behind, on swifts. Simply because we get none here, where I am. Five miles away, in town. But, not here.

I'd truly appreciate ye own experiences. You're obviously a bit of a 'Swift Freak'. Easy to become, surely?

E39MSport

Ditch.

Please let me have your thoughts on this.

For the past 4 years (last year not incl) we've been lucky enough to have a pair of swallows nesting in the porch. They were very successful until the year before last when they suffered a mite infestation. I posted a thread about saving one of the chicks after they fledged early due to the mites.



Last year I decided to buy some swallow nest 'cups' from bwi (sourced form CJ I think). The swallows returned but didn't nest. I'm thinking they have either abandoned the site due to the infestation or didn't like the cups (they may have had a newish/fabrication smell to them.

At this stage, they have been used all winter by Wrens and are by no means smelling new ;-)

Anyway, my question, should I leave them there to help the Swallows along or take them down in the hope that the Swallows will build.

Dilema. My gut is telling me to take them down. I can put them back up for the Wrens next winter if the Swallows don't oblige.

(I can't wait to see them back - really looking forward to that first sighting)

Cheers,

Ditch

Trebor; Starlings nested in natural holes in trees ~ back in the days when we were living in wattle and daub huts and hill forts. And I'll tell ye what? I'll bet they nested in the roofs of those huts too.

Times have changed a lot since then. For a tree to get a decent hole in it, it needs to be old. Maybe have a limb come off to start the hole.

I'm surrounded by miles of cattle farming land. Yet, as I look out my window, there's precious little likely looking trees. Loads of sitka, sure. Useless to starlings. Few ash.....

I guess the simplest proof of my point is that the only pair nesting here are in my roof. The other pair are in a neighbours roof.

And what about a place like Dublin? Any tree that might exist in a park or what ever there? First sign of getting a weak limb or a bit of rot and some jobsworth will be out rendering it " Safe ".

No. Starlings have evolved into their adaptation of nesting in the naturally decaying bits of ageing properties. Now it's all UPVC and even just deliberately blocking them out

Now, here's a thing; As a professional Pest Controller, I can't for a minute deny that birds nesting within ones property is actually not good! They carry all manner of parasites and can infest ones home with nasties.

However, a nest box, properly fitted to the exterior wall of ye house? No problemmo!

Now, stop being such a misery and get one up!

Ditch

E39MSport; Swallows? Swallows R Us, mate! Christ almighty; I get run off my feet here, going round endlessly checking out all my swallows nests, for the BTO Nest Recording Scheme.

Now; I've had no experience of these dummy nests, so I can't really comment on them directly. However, I will say that ~ to the best of my life long assumption ~ birds have no sense of smell. I don't think so anyway.

In my own, by now 'considerable', experience of swallows, I've found they'll do pretty much what enters their heads. They may build a nest. They may adopt an old nest.

Now, here's an issue we can't resolve: Which swallows are we talking about here? I get several pairs nesting here, K? They raise dozens of young. Then the whole lot sod off.

When 'They' return, how in hell am I to know which are the same adults as last year and which are last years young? Can't, can I? I'm not authorised to ring them. So I'm completely in the dark.

See? Now, from that we may extrapolate that it might be that 'resident' adults will return to their last years nest - if it still exists - while last years young will build their own, brand new nests. Maybe the pair who made that nest in the small shed last year have died? Now what? See what I'm getting at?

So; How do we know that your original, mite infested, birds even ever made it to Africa, let alone back. They may have been weakened from the blood suckers and ditched into the sea on route. Where's that leave us?

What it all boils down to then is that we simply don't, can't know what's really going on here. The swallows you saw, since mite year, who didn't nest in ye porch? They could've been the old birds. Their young. They could even have been completely different birds.

In the final analysis? I can only say that 'my' birds use three out buildings each year. (They even nest in here, if I don't watch them!) Not always in the same spot in any given building. Only once in a while reusing an old nest.

I'm wondering if either A/ Your original birds are dead and these new birds, come to fill the empty territory, simply haven't found your porch yet. Or, B/ If they're your birds, but they've decided to nest elsewhere.

Anyway, leave the dummy nests up. They're doing no harm and the wrens obviously love them. In fact, on that basis, I'd be putting up a proper box, so the wrens can get in there and be better insulated

E39MSport

Cheers.

RE: wrens - I did put up boxes for the Wrens but they didn't use them. I don't want to pull down the swallow nests in order to try to get them to use the boxes as they may have no shelter.

I might put the boxes up in the porch again in any case.

Thanks.

Great thread.

trebor28

im no swallow expert Sport, but did you put up your swallow box in the exact spot they used??
or was it beside the old nest?


@Ditch, the starling around here can use all the hole in the walls that they have always been using, so i wont be putting up any nests.

i can show you the crap covered walls to prove it.

Ditch

Trebor; Is that out buildings or ye home? Only, seriously, I don't like the idea of starlings nesting directly inside peoples homes.

I'm not hysterical about it. They can bring mites and lice. But then, my Dogs can bring ticks and fleas .....

Boxes just bring advantages while negating the minor disadvantages. Eg. the sh!t goes down the box, not ye walls. And ye can site the box so it's away from ye motor!

Just out of curiosity; Where do ye live? City or farmland? I like knowing peoples environments. Gives me a better picture of the likely situation around them.

E39MSport

trebor28 wrote: »

im no swallow expert Sport, but did you put up your swallow box in the exact spot they used??
or was it beside the old nest?


@Ditch, the starling around here can use all the hole in the walls that they have always been using, so i wont be putting up any nests.

i can show you the crap covered walls to prove it.

They use 2 spots. One is on the security camera ! and the other in a corner. I placed the box in the spot they last used (infested) and the other beside the camera.

They visited the porch plenty of times and looked very interested in it towards the end of the season.

Fingers crossed for this season. It was lovely having them welcome me home. The adults (even the male who was not on the nest) just sat there watching us watching them.

Ditch

sables2 wrote: »

Well, I'm using 3/4" marine (to make blue tit boxes). The lenght i'm dealing with is roughly: 4'x4' sliced in two obviously. I've NO circular saw. So this is causing me all sorts of problems, etc. IE: Can't get the 'straight' edged bevel for the roof.

Sable; How 'roughly' four foot? Only, four foot is the prescribed length of a 'plank' to make one box from. Now, brace yeself, because what I'm about to say may come as a bit of a shock to ye!

Ye have half a sheet of marine ply, yeah? Sheets come in 8' x 4'. OK. Take that 4' x 4' sheet and cut it, length ways, into six inch wide strips.

Know what that gives ye? Enough to make EIGHT blue tit boxes! :eek:

Now, granted, these boxes will be about 6" x 5" floored. But, better to knock up eight 'almost perfect' boxes than any number of bed sits.

My advice it to get that ply to someone with a power saw. Mark it up first. Draw the lines for them. Then they'll only need plug in their saw and, five minutes later, ye have ye 'planks'. Worth buying them a pint for

Get that done and I'll figure out a way of showing ye the standard cutting plan. Ye can do that bit yeself, with just a hand saw. Cutting across a six inch plank of ply's not difficult ~ long as ye have a decent saw.

whyulittle

I put together one each of these on the BTO site this afternoon.

Adequete, but improvement needed I think! A worthwhile endeavour though, as I can see how to put them together better.

I presume birds don't notice the absence of right angles!

Kess73

These will be in Aldi next week.

http://www.aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/special_buys3_15817.htm


I got to have a look at the feeding station and the build quality is pretty decent and the cable/camera etc are pretty good as well.


The picture quality is quite good, especially for the price, as is the sound quality.

sables2

Sure where would i be with out ye Ditch? Your the man . As you can tell by now - i'm NOT your regular DIY man now! Saying that: i was hard at work all afternoon..yes, all afternoon working on my BT nest box. You know what....i'm thrilled with my 'revelation':). Seriously i am. I owe you an apology - my sheet i got was in fact 4' X 4' Marine ply sheet from Chadwicks. I have it in bits and pieces at this stage. As we say: "it's all over the shop":eek:. But, i have my BT box now and ready for hanging. The base i have is: 3"X 5"....(not exactly our 'proper' measurements, but hey...will they sack me?) The hole entrance is 25mm diameter....? Looks really OK and bloody tough!! Will i have to put 'filling' in it...IE: straw, twigs, etc for nest bedding...or will they do the job for me? How about i put it out now...or wait till next November/December. In other words - is it too darn late now? Position wise....SE facing? How about i put it on a leyandaii tree above my shed....say 4/5 meters high? What I'm getting at is: do i have to be 'regimental' to the point of perfection... Cheers buddy;).

Ditch

Sables; Ye box is a bloody disaster! But, only to purists, like me, who strive to keep up with the cutting edge of nest box stuff

I'm sure some lucky pair of Blue Tits will gladly accept ye offering and reward ye with a successful brood.

The important thing is that ye've asked the questions that have given me the opening to mention the 'Best Practice' bit. Now, thanks to you, anyone reading this far knows that they only need to go to Chadwicks and buy a 4' x 4' sheet of marine. That'll make them a stack of good boxes

Will ye have to put filling in it? No. Most box using birds are perfectly fine with just the right space. I, for one, will always mention when it's generally considered better to add anything. (See, eg. GSW)

When to put a box up? Moment it's made. Period. Book says, " Nest boxes should be put up " such and such? Ignore it. Tell them I said so. That I said they're talking out their bums.

Do natural holes, in trees, suddenly happen in January? April? August? December? Do birds go round checking the age of holes? No.

They get the urge to nest and they start prospecting. That can be any time between now and god knows. And, with blue tits? Everyone who's put up nest boxes will tell ye of the time they put one up and had blue tits in it that same day!

North, through East to South East is the industry standard facing position. Saying that, I knew a kestrels nest in a west facing hole in a wall that threw successful broods for decades!

Leylandai isn't a tree I've ever experienced. Strikes me though that I'd probably lop a branch off, to give better 'access' to the box. Birds tend to like a clear flight path. So I'd open a window for them. See?

Height? For blue tits? Probably the least 'regimental' nesters out there! I've seen them nest, quite happily, year after year, at five foot. And that was in a box not much bigger than this mug I'm drinking my tea from. And it was so old and rotten a stiff wind could've exploded it!

Four, five yards up? That's exactly what I'd recommend myself

Ditch

whyulittle wrote: »

I put together one each of these on the BTO site this afternoon.

Adequete, but improvement needed I think! A worthwhile endeavour though, as I can see how to put them together better.

I presume birds don't notice the absence of right angles!

Whyulittle; There's two things that would make me Not steer anyone towards that page ~ despite me being deeply in love with the BTO .....

One; Ye see the need for a router? How's the average person with just a hand saw and hammer at their disposal going to cut that channel for the lid to back into?

Two; Look at the size / width of the plank they're recommending. 150mm again. 'Bedsit' box!

Soon as I get round to it, I'll post a cutting plan, almost identical to the tit box one. Only this is for a front opening box which can be made, literally, with just a saw and hammer.

Robin box? To be perfectly honest; I've never used one. Because I never had robins around! :rolleyes: Now I do have them. But they tend to nest where they will.

Think I'd better try putting out some robin boxes this year though, so they might nest where I can easier find them, to record for the BTONRS.

Ditch

Kess73 wrote: »

These will be in Aldi next week.

That looks a bit of fun, Kess Someone started a thread asking about these 'Cam Boxes'. Wasn't you, was it?

Anyway, yeppers, I think I can see screws, in that picture? Nice, if so. Shows a bit of quality. Not like these bloody staples we see so much of today.

I don't know what size the box is. But, I can guess; Bedsit? :rolleyes: I'd like it deeper too. That hole's too low, for my liking.

As for the feeder option? I'd hang a feeder. Wouldn't use the tray as it appears to have no drainage. Sure fire recipe for mess and disease.

Ye figuring on getting one? If so, please keep us up to date on how ye find it

sables2

How are ya Ditch. Ha,ha. You say it as it is buddy! On a more serious note: the BT box is OK i think. I'm definitely going to put it up now...no mincing about . One thing i didn't do - i didn't have a 'door' for it. It's all nailed. (NO protruding ones though). I'll leave out the filling then, leave 'em to do there own thing. I think i'll stick it/hang it on a very large grisilina hedgerow...it's very sturdy to hold a BT box i'm sure. think it's ok to have an opening/gap in hedge so i can view it with my binoculars/scope?

Thanks again Ditch.;)

whyulittle

Ditch wrote: »

One; Ye see the need for a router? How's the average person with just a hand saw and hammer at their disposal going to cut that channel for the lid to back into?

Two; Look at the size / width of the plank they're recommending. 150mm again. 'Bedsit' box!

Pffrt, router. Hammer, chisel and ten year old woodwork skills. :P

But yeah, they did conveniently skip over that part in their instructions.

Mine ended up with a floorspace of 6" X 5". My material was inch thick rather than 3/4", so couldn't stick exactly to their plan.

Would welcome some other designs though.

Ditch

whyulittle wrote: »

Mine ended up with a floorspace of 6" X 5". My material was inch thick rather than 3/4", so couldn't stick exactly to their plan.

Would welcome some other designs though.

I envy ye those wood working skills! I'm just a kack handed wood butcher!

6 x 5's fine, mate. I hammer this point about the 6 x 6" because that's perfection. But, how many blue tits do ye think go scouring the countryside with a Stanley Tape clipped to their little belts, rejecting any natural hole that isn't exactly 6 x 6"?

Let's face it; They'd be extinct! As it is, they're in big numbers. That's why they can't afford to be fussy. That's why they'll accept bedsits. That's why I implore people to provide them with more morally acceptable housing

Regards other plans? That does it. I'd bet get a sheet of paper out and start work. I'll show ye the Front Opener. I favour this one because it does away with all the cuts, hinges or vile strips of old inner tube.

ppink

Ditch great thread!
one question I have is would they live next door to each other........i.e. if i put up a couple of boxes right next to each other would they be happy using them both or do they like space(BT's I am talkign about). Also is there anything I can do for finches as I have probably 40+ of them visiting right now. do they all go for the same thing?

I also saw someguy in discovery doing these:
http://www.gardenstew.com/blog/e308-27-extreme-birdhouses--the-wellington-hotel-.html
and I was really wondering by the end of the show who would live in all those appartments

trebor28

made one up a little while ago, kind went by the link that whyulittle posted up but ended up with an inside measurement of 6' x 5'.

the 1' inch hole looks way to small but then i suppose bt's are quite small.

will try and post up a pic tomorrow. made an interesting hinge structure for it.
gona try and protect it from the elements with some old lino.