Every year I build nest boxes for the birds living near me, or restore old ones to make sure they still are fit for purpose.
Here in the UK, birds are facing a shortage of natural nesting sites and so offering a variety of different species a safe place to bring up their avian families is important. It is also vital to have the boxes ready in good time for the coming breeding season, which means much of my nest box building takes place in the winter months.
I like my bird boxes to look as natural as possible and design each to suit the species I want to encourage. Watch as I reclaim old ash and beech stumps to fashion into boxes for owls and kestrels and see each of these species settle in to their new homes. Also spot my bespoke kingfisher nest and the kingfisher family that moved in.
Featured in this film are some of the bird boxes I've built over the years, along with the birds that moved into them. As you watch it, look out for the following bird homes:
'Three Trees', now home to Orion the barn owl,
'Ash Tree', home to tawny owl pair Bonnie & Ozzy,
'Ash Hollow', home to kestrels Apollo & Athena
'Little Owl Nest'
'Kingfisher Nest'
