Buzzzzz

I thought it was time I had a look at the two owl boxes, that put up last winter, to see if there was any evidence of residents.  Here's a photo of the more elaborate version with a perch. There was definitely sign of occupancy but not what I had hoped for.




 I had suspected this already but they both contain a hornets nest. It's quite a remarkable piece of engineering.



I believe it's hornets as they make their nest out of chewed up wood. It certainly has a wood like appearance but looks incredibly fragile. It probably is quite robust if in reality. All I learned from a quick web search is that it's likely to be empty now. New queens will have flown and will be wintering in a crevice somewhere. These old nests will disintegrate so there would seem to be no harm in removing them. I'll try and confirm that before doing so. The nest above was created in the mouth of owl box at the top of the post. The other owl box is a slightly different shape and positioned under the curve of an oak trunk as the top is the entrance.




In this box the nest was right down inside. These were well made by my dad who conveniently installed an inspection hatch in the base so I was able to peep inside.



So not the residents I'd hoped for so far but it was expected to take a while anyway. It was still interesting to see these nests up close. While I was up the ladder I also made sure the straps holding the boxes in place weren't too tight, which was a simple job as they have a ratchet system on the webbing.

I might remove the old nests before spring if I can find out it's advised but otherwise I'll leave them alone till next winter.