14th March 2021 – A shock!

Visitors that have followed my website over the years may recall that back in 2006 I had a pair of House Sparrows use one of my boxes and successfully raise a brood of two. Sparrows have sadly seen a decline in my area and do not visit my garden very often at all 🙁

After completing some work on the camera system, I turned the cameras on to check inside my three boxes. Inside Box 3, I could see some pieces of grass had been brought into the box. After not seeing any of my boxes used for a few years, I waited to see what was using the box. After waiting for 20 minutes a female House Sparrow entered the box and preformed a number of nesting wiggles!

Female House Sparrow Nest Wiggles
Female House Sparrow Nest Wiggles

Shortly afterwards the male Sparrow came in with some more grass and then left in a hurry as the female made him leave the box.

Visits continued for most of the morning before stopping in the afternoon.

In the evening I turned on the camera to see if the female House Sparrow had roosted in the box. Sadly not and the roosting Great Tit had returned.

Roosting Great Tit
Roosting Great Tit

What will happen next? Will the House Sparrows continue or will the Great Tit keep its claim on the box?

More in my next diary update.