Bird Nest Box Monitoring

Monitoring of Bird Nest Boxes on Marston Marsh

Last year the Norwich Fringe Project installed 21 new bird nest boxes on Marston Marsh and is keen for these to be monitored to record usage. Eaton Village Residents’ Association (EVRA) supports the Norwich Fringe Project in the maintenance of the Marston Marsh Easy Access Path and also assists with other conservation activities. EVRA has offered to recruit a team to monitor the nest boxes and report their findings back to the NFP.

All the new nest boxes are numbered on their base and a photo was taken as these were installed. A GPS location tag was recorded for each box. There is a list of the nest boxes and their GPS locations which have been mapped onto a plan of Marston Marsh. There is also a zip file of the photos which will assist with locating the boxes – although some of these are unclear because of the shady locations.

Paul Holley, the Natural Areas Officer for Norwich City Council, and Matt Davies from Norwich Fringe Project are responsible for the site and want to know if the boxes are being used. Paul wishes to record the species using a particular box, and, if possible, the date on which nesting behaviour was first observed and the fledging date where nesting was successful. There are also a number of bird boxes previously installed on Marston Marsh and it would be good to monitor these also – although we do not yet have the same level of location detail as we have for the new boxes. The new boxes include an Owl box and three bat boxes. It is also intended to install new bird nest boxes in Danby Woods once the tree works are complete with monitoring also extended to that site.

We also intend to contribute to the BTO’s Surveys on nest box usage – The Nest Box Challenge http://www.bto.org/volunteer-surveys/nbc. An Eaton Resident who works for the BTO is interested in this monitoring exercise and would be able to support our monitoring.

The monitoring would take place on an occasional basis so as not to disturb the birds too much. All locations are accessible although some will require wellies to get through wet areas. Many of the locations can be seen from paths but some will require clambering over locked gates or crossing barbed wire fencing to get close enough to observe the boxes. Binoculars will be useful but these do not need to be expensive versions.

If you are interested in assisting with this monitoring project then please send me your Name, Telephone Number and Email Address. I will then offer a date when those interested can meet on Marston Marsh for a tour of the sites and a discussion on how to monitor these.

 

Chris Stebbing

EVRA – Vice Chairman

Email: evra.vc@live.co.uk

Tel: 10603 503301