I live near Cusworth Park & my garden has been developed to encourage wildlife with a mini meadow (all of 1.5 sq m). I have a bug hotel on the fence behind the ‘meadow’ & this was unused for about 7 years until last year when leaf-cutter bees & others unidentified bees used it. This year the bees have been very busy again & it has been great watching them fill the tubes & seal them off.

The garden also has lots of flowering & fruiting shrubs and trees as well as garden flowers, planted mainly for pollinators.

 I have been contributing to BTO Garden Bird Watch since it started 25 years ago & they also run a Nesting Neighbours survey to which I also contribute. This year I have been able to watch the birds build a total of 9 nests, 3 of which had 2 broods. This is a summary of the nesting activity.

Catherine Palmer

 

Species	Site	Outcome
Blackbird	Hawthorn hedge	3 chicks fledged
Blackbird	Hydrangea Petiolari	4 chicks fledged
Blackbird	Hydrangea Petiolari	4 chicks fledged
Dunnock	Ivy	4 chicks hatched then my dog destroyed the nest which was only 0.5 mt from the ground
Robin	Open fronted box in holly tree	4 chicks fledged
Sparrow	Nest box in birch tree	At least one chick fledged
Sparrow	Nest box in birch tree	At least one chick fledged
Sparrow	Sparrow terrace on house wall	At least one chick fledged
Sparrow	Sparrow terrace on house wall	At least one chick fledged
Starling	Roof space	4 chicks fledged. 1 went to the front garden & 3 went to the back. The parents found the one at the front but not those at the back. They perished the next day.
Wren	Hydrangea Petiolari	Not occupied
Wood pigeon	Hawthorn tree	Not occupied