Bugs, birds and bats

Bugs, Birds and Bats at Brincliffe House

Why should it just be human animals who enjoy cohousing at Brincliffe House? We have been building bug hotels, bird boxes, including a couple of unlikely owl boxes, and bat homes.  They are now fixed in various positions around the grounds and gardens awaiting the breeding season.  Bat boxes on the roof and owl boxes high in the massive cedar trees. There are twenty bird boxes - all numbered - so there's a bit of science involved as well.  Who will nest where?  We will keep you informed.

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Bird box making and decorating proved to be popular

We have tried to put the different designs of boxes in places where we have already observed that species...  It appears that different birds will only nest in boxes where the opening holes are of their particular chosen size.  Who would have thought birds were so picky! 

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Hey how did that one get so high up in the cedar?  It's for owls.  It seems unlikely that owls would ever nest in a structure like that... but it's what it says in the books.  The young owls, apparently, leave the nest before learning to fly.  They spend quite a time crawling round in the foliage being fed by their parents and going back into the nest (big box), at night.

Here are the owl boxes during the construction process.  And below here are the bat boxes in situ...