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25 April 2021
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Once again Davies Timbers of Cwmbran have been amazing to me with a huge donation of roofing felt. They specialize in plush liveable garden sheds or cabins. They have been incredibly busy during this horrid pandemic so they had a plenty of felt offcuts. They can only use a full roll of felt so I get the offcuts from each roll. I`d like to say a huge than you to Roy and John Davies who have been a great support to my project for at least ten years now. If you live in Gwent or surroundings and require timber, fence panel or sheds and look no further these guys are great and wont let you down.

23 April 2021

Our Lady St Michael`s RC Primary School, Abergavenny, Monmouthshire Tawny Owl Nest Box Challenge

Miss McCarthy and Mrs Duggan

21 April 2021

Goytre Fawr Primary School is a local school to my village and only 4 miles away. It is a superb school full of excellent Teaching staff and support staff. Ive worked with the school in the past making small tit nest boxes for the school grounds. My last visit was 7 years ago and it was so good to return and work with a year 4 group. It was also really good to see the nest boxes we fitted around the school grounds 7 years ago all still in situ. So this years year 4 were given the task of making another 4 tit boxes along with 4 bat nest boxes. These were also added to the others already in place. Whilst out erecting the new additions we checked on the nest boxes that have been in place for 7 years. Great news to report all nest boxes had nests with blue and great tit nests. Some had eggs and one had 6 little blue tit chicks. Once again it was a pleasure to work at Goytre Fawr and I look forward to future workshops.

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Goytre Fawr Primary School

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20 April 2021

I along with my good friend Nigel Williams managed to erect a internal barn owl nest box at a site that I didnt think woulkd be worth placing a nest box. I have about 500 small nest boxes situated around this area and have been passsing this barn for about 12 years now. Didn`t really think about placing a nest box inside because I thought it wasn`t really a good site. That changed whilst out monitoring my small boxes. I decided to take a look inside the barn and to my surprise there was evidence of a barn owl or a pair of barn owls using this barn on a daily basis. I was surprised to find numerous fresh and very old pellets all over the barn floor with a big pile of rodent bones where the pellets had rotted down. It was really clear that this barn has been used for many years such was the debris of bones on the floor.  So with that in mind I got cracking on building a nest box for this new and exciting location.

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15 April 2021

So today I returned back to Our Lady St Michaels RC Primary School in Abergavenny. I had promised the children that I would return and along with a select few build a Tawny Owl nest box for the school grounds. Below is a few images of the build and included is a few images of us checking out nest boxes we had erect two weeks prior to todays visit. We had some really good news whilst checking the nest boxes with 3 out of the 7 small tit nest boxes we erect had eggs inside. 2 Blue tit and 1 Great tit nest which was pretty good considering when these were erect. It was sad to say goodbye to the children although I shall remember my visit and remember to fond memories I had with this lovely class and staff.

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4 April 2021

Iv`e been finding numerous Blackbird and Song Thrush nests whilst out monitoring my nest box routes. Mainly in Holy or Ivy which makes sense with both being evergreen. These will be first clutches and a good start for the new breeding season. I am a little concerned with the weather forecast set to deteriorate over the next few days. With temperatures set to tumble it will be a challenging period for many nesting birds. 

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3 April 2021

Ive still got enough timber left over to make another 50 to 60 small nest boxes. This material was purchased for me by a good friend and a friend who has regularly contributed to my conservation work either by manual labour or the purchase of materials. 

I have 2 new nest box sites I would like to get another 20 - 40 boxes erect although I am running out of time. It`s been difficult attracting volunteers at the moment with the pandemic and the restriction of movement. I will have to try and get some of these up myself by the looks.

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1 April 2021

The arrival of bitterly cold weather only a few days after the vernal equinox, the official start of spring in Britain could have serious consequences for wildlife. The snow that's forecast along with biting winds will reduce the insect population, creating food shortages for birds and other creatures. Migratory birds, such as the wheatear and the sand martin, are now arriving in Britain in numbers and will need food after long flights from the south. Insects are their principal source of nourishment. For migrant birds, the timing could hardly have been worse; potentially they could be stranded in their millions on the other side of the Channel, waiting for the weather to change.

 

Frozen lakes and ponds could also affect frogs and other amphibians, There are also fears for ravens, tawny owls and blackbirds who have already begun nesting. Forecasters said snow, feeding in from the North Sea, could start to spread westwards across to the Midlands and parts of Wales next week which is a real concern. I always get anxious this time of year especially if the weather takes a dramatic drop in temperatures. Fingers crossed my Pied Flycatchers and Restarts In hope they are all safe and held up somewhere they can weather the storm and eventually continue to the breeding grounds.

 

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