More redwings later on today - following on from the flock over Royce Wood this morning. There were five flying over the Heath Road paddock this afternoon at 3.45pm.
I wandered round the paddock checking the nest boxes. I put these up some time ago, primarily to encourage tree sparrows, which had just reappeared in the village and for a couple of years they did nest, using 3-4 boxes, but they soon disappeared.
Perhaps this was because they were just too fat - if you take a look at the photo you will see why this could really be true - the tree sparrow you can see got stuck in the entrance hole and died, leaving another inside the box to starve to death!
I didn't find any evidence of tree sparrow but did find one box full of leaves - probably a home for a mouse or two. And indeed when I opened the next box, there was a wood mouse staring out at me, trembling with fright at the top of another pile of leaves and moss - its home for the cold months ahead. I quickly replaced the lid and left him to it!
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