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Shed nest..

Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
in Wildlife gardening
Last summer brought us a dunnock, occasionally two, but I hadn't seen it for a couple of months. I did notice a bird poo in the doorless shed a couple of months back, and assumed it was from a sparrow.. however, for two days on the trot I've heard a rustling in the shed when I've gone for the bird seed, and today I caught sight of little dunnock flying out of a gap at the end.
I'm half hoping there's nesting going on, and half hoping there isn't as I don't want to risk disturbing them too much - the shed's tiny. 
I'm just chuffed my little mate's still around though. 😊
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  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906
    Hi @Slow-worm I have a wren/s that have nested in my shed for the last two seasons. The shed was kept quite quiet through the nesting. Those tiny birds got in through the teeniest of gaps. The fledging wrens make an absolutely phenomenal noise for their size - even louder than the adults calls. Such a joy to have them.
    Dunnocks nested in the clematis that grows near my garage door  last year and all the comings and goings there didn't seem to bother them a bit.
    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    I had a robin nest built on top of a broom head, propped up against a wall, in my garage once. I stopped putting the car inside the garage until the babies had fledged.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    We have dunnocks ... they lead rather busy love-lives ... https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/dunnock/nest-and-breeding-habits/
    ... I think we have two females and one male ... most years we have nests in the Clem. Freckles in the front garden and the Honeysuckle in the back garden ... just the other day I watched a dunnock busy in the C Freckles and getting a bit territorial when a robin got a bit close ...  :)



    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    Lovely!! 😊
    Yeah we've had starlings nesting in the guttering forever, they're so loud! We love it though. 
    Dunnocks are serious lover-lover birds then! 
  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    I have starlings nesting under the eaves near the lounge and sparrows nesting under the eaves near the bedroom.  I love to listen to them communicating with each other.  It's certainly a distinct bird language!
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    There used to be starlings nesting in next door's roof, but since they had new gutters and soffits etc 18 months ago the starlings have abandoned that site ... they dont consider our roof suitable as it's too shaded ... they liked to sunbathe on the corner of next door's guttering.  We watch them in their family groups on roofs opposite but they no longer chirrup and whistle to us when we're in the bathroom  :'( 

    We saw a good murmuration near High Ash Farm as we came home yesterday.  :)

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • tui34tui34 Posts: 3,493
    I whistle back to the starlings when I'm in the garden @Dovefromabove  Last year I was at the paint shop and heard them as I was taking the paint to the car.  So I whistled back and lo and behold, the two security dogs came out to greet me.   Aaaah!  I made slow movements there!!!
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • Slow-wormSlow-worm Posts: 1,630
    edited February 2023
    I 'chat' with them all too, I have my own call. I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in that. 😄

    Starlings are very underrated, they're very clever and have the most beautiful songs.

  • Joyce GoldenlilyJoyce Goldenlily Posts: 2,933
    I also whistle to my robins when I go into the garden. 
  • JessicaSJessicaS Posts: 870
    I whistle to my pair of robins. They sing back and follow me round. They are currently building a big nest in one of the boxes I put up in the clematis. Im hoping the dunnocks will too, just not near the robins, they are a tad terrotorial...
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