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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

house martin box? (1 Viewer)

da2m

Well-known member
after a comment from another birder on this site, does anyone know if the pre made house martin box are any good or if you can make your own. any input would be greatfull.
 
just made some after deciding the pre mades were too expensive for what they were, using indoor filler and scrap wood I can make them for approx £1 each, but did have to buy a ball (£4) for the mould.

used the RSPB method

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/whatyoucando/attracthousemartins/make_a_nest.asp

my first few attempts didn't work but with a little trial & error the latest ones turned out ok & have already been put up.

not easy to find the right sort of ball as the material has to be thick enough to hold its shape when you cut it up, I found a small blue "practice basketball" which was ideal.
 
da2m said:
after a comment from another birder on this site, does anyone know if the pre made house martin box are any good or if you can make your own. any input would be greatfull.

Make your own - it's well worthwhile, but be prepared to be patient. I put up a group of three some ten years (or so) ago. They were used as occasional roosts by House Sparrows until August 2004 when they were finally discovered by a pair of House Martins that used one for a (presumably) second brood. Last year two of the boxes were used for nesting by Martins, and they used the third for roosting. I've just drilled a hole from my loft down into one of the boxes and installed a cctv camera to look down into it ready for this year's nesting.

When I made my boxes (as described in the RSPB site), I used cement, sawdust and some finely sieved soil (worm casts!). However, I started by creating a thin, fibreglass 'skeleton' to provide a rim to allow me to screw the box to the timber backing.

If you visit my website, there are quite a few pictures of the nests in use. You can find them easily by doing a search from the front page.
 
thanks you all for your help, thats one reason why i use this site. david i'll check out yor site tonight.
 
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