Last year, I put up a Tawny Box in a large tree facing the Bridle path opposite my house. I had seen Tawnies in this area and felt it was a perfect place for them. Although the Tawny did look in, the Jackdaws soon decided that it was their and at the beginning of March, they started bringing nesting materials in. They brought materials in at an amazing rate, building their nest up so high, it obscured the camera and the entrance hole! I had to go and remove twigs so I could still see into the box!
In no time, they had built a random collection of sticks, paper, sheep wool and create a fortress ….
The female laid 4 eggs and several hatched, but only one survived to fledge. Due to lack of light and the sheer volume of materials that they often put in front of the camera, I was unable to film later into the process.
This year, I wanted to clear the box and add some lighting into the nest box.
Today, I climbed up to empty the nest box…. it was not pleasant! It was crammed tight with twigs and smelt horrible! I certainly would not want to bring up a family in there! The dust and debris was so horrible, that I had to go and get a mask on!
After about 20 minutes of dismantling and untangling, I removed everything, ready for the lights to be installed….There was a huge amount of material in there!
I have a feeling the Jackdaws will be back!