Many thanks to David Noble-Rollin for securing a grant from the Dickinson fund enabling us to obtain 50 bird boxes (25 for this year, see pic, and 25 boxes for next year). This fund is managed by the Natural History Society of Northumbria.

I am told we will be supplied with a squad of students to put these bird box kits together, which will save me a bit of time. Before this happens we will survey the site to determine the best sites for these boxes. The long skinny boxes you can see are for Willow Tits which are on the ‘red list’ of birds at risk, we have a healthy little colony to it would be great if we can encourage a few more. Also one of the key reasons for being successful in the grant application was the fact we were able to show a positive improvement in the tree sparrow population ( a bird also ‘at risk’). Hopefully the increased number of safe homes will improve this even further.