Give a bird a home - and feel the love

Valentine’s Day marked the beginning of the annual Nest Box Week, and bird lovers flocked to the Axe Estuary Wetlands near Seaton on Wednesday 19th Feb for ‘Give a bird a home’ – an opportunity to create a bespoke nest box.

Kits were prepared by East Devon District Council Countryside Rangers, who also gave advice on where to place the completed article for the best results.

"Different species of birds have different requirements when it comes to nest boxes," explained Fraser Rush, Axe Estuary Wetlands Officer. "We have two types of kit on offer; one for a nest box which will be used by either sparrows, blue tits or great tits, and a larger one suitable for starlings, or even jackdaws and stock doves."

"Of these species the starling is, perhaps unexpectedly, the one that needs our help the most, with numbers having fallen by 66% since the 1970s. While this decline is largely due to agricultural changes, alterations to modern building design mean fewer cracks and crevices which would have been inhabited by starlings in years gone by. We can do our bit to support the starling population by providing nest boxes for them in our gardens."

Anyone interested in Countryside events should watch out for the Spring / Summer Events Guide which will be available at the end of March from libraries and tourist information centres as well as selected shops and garden centres across East Devon. This is a comprehensive list of upcoming rural-themed events from the East Devon District Council Countryside team and other partnership organisations. For more information call 01395 517557 or emails Countryside@eastdevon.gov.uk.