The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Watch the birdie!
Schools in Perthshire are working with local environment campaigners to entice more wildlife into their gardens. Gayle helped primary pupils make bird boxes
M uch as I love cats, I don’t own one. That’s because I fear it might enjoy massacring the birds that hang out in my garden.
I take great pleasure in watching the vast numbers of blue tits, robins, chaffinches, blackbirds, great-spotted woodpeckers and even fat pheasants through my living room window and would be sad to think they might be ripped to shreds by a potentially deadly pet.
At this time of year, I top up the feeders with nuts and seeds on an almost daily basis. The birds are quick to get stuck in, because they’re super hungry, preparing to breed and build nests.
With many common species showing a decline in numbers, which is more than likely a result of human activity – such as building on natural land and removing hedgerows for modern farming methods – the least we can do is try to help our feathered friends.
As well as feeding them, we can put up bird boxes in our gardens and green spaces, offering cosy, ready-made homes for the winged creatures.
Members of Kilmadock Climate Action have been heading into schools across Perthshire to help pupils build their very own boxes as part of an educational, environmental campaign. So far, they’ve donated 220 boxes, one for each pupil in Doune and Deanston primary schools, and it’s hoped that more schools might get on board the project in the near future.
Tom Bowser, the ranger at Argaty Red Kites in Doune, sourced wood from a local sawmill and along with volunteers, pre-cut and drilled holes in the boxes, ready for the young people to put together.
“It’s like Ikea for bird boxes!” he laughed.
“The great thing is they’re really easy to make. And hopefully, when the boxes are up, the young people will get to see lots of birds scouting them out for potential homes – blue tits, coal tits, great tits, and possibly sparrows. Small garden birds, in essence.”
Tom hopes that by showing children the importance of encouraging birds into their local spaces, they will learn a lot about nature and have fun in the process.
“There’s so little nature education in schools and yet it’s massively important,” he said.
“Bird boxes are a good starting point but we also hope to get young people involved with planting trees, wildflower meadows and hedgerows. It’s about getting them to think about looking after wildlife and investigating ways of making a difference in the world.”
I popped along to Doune Primary School to help a group of primary five children assemble the simple structures and found 10-year-old Erin Alcorn hard at work drilling in screws.
“Isn’t this cool?” she said. “I can’t wait to hang my bird box next to my trampoline or in a tree. Hopefully a blue tit or a sparrow might come and live in it.”
Kilmadock Climate Action was set up by Anna Clark and Jayne Whitehead and boasts dozens of volunteers, including Tom and his mum Lynn Bowser.
Anna said: “We decided to get local people involved in the mission to combat climate change.
“Tom’s idea of building bird boxes is a bit of an instant hit, a fast win where children will be able, hopefully, to see their efforts rewarded when birds show up in their gardens.
“We hope this will inspire them to chat to their parents about how to manage their gardens in more wildlifefriendly ways.”
Anna recommends erecting bird boxes out of the reach of cats (no surprise there then!), and not in direct sunlight.
“Ideally there’ll be some perches nearby for birds to land on and investigate the area before entering the box – maybe a washing pole or a shed. Even better, there’ll be some tree, hedge, bush or shrub cover.”
Ultimately, the more birds you help to successfully raise broods this spring and summer, the more you can enjoy in your garden for years to come.
I was lucky enough to be gifted a spare bird box by the group and I am happy to report that it now takes pride of place on a tree in my garden.
I wait with baited breath to see which birds, if any, grace it with their presence!