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Dunnock nest question... (1 Viewer)

2520years

2520years

Lurking in the bushes is wrong.
We appear to have a dunnock making its nest in our row of conifers. She keeps going in and out, and I think it is a site some blackbirds have tried to use before.

My question is about cutting the hedge. It's in need of a trim, but I don't know if I should. If I don't the neighbours will be unhappy, if I do will I disturb the nest?

Can anyone give any advice?

Thanks in advance.
 
Hi there

tricky one. all wild birds there nests and eggs are protected by law with obvious emphasis on the rarer schedule one birds. may be if you let your neighbour know why you are not so keen to trim the hedge they might not complain so much and show an interest in how the birds are doing. good luck
 
I would go with the chat with the neighbour, delaying a trim to that particular section of hedge can't be the end of the world to the neighbours, but it might well be to any eggs or chicks
 
2520years said:
My question is about cutting the hedge. It's in need of a trim, but I don't know if I should. If I don't the neighbours will be unhappy, if I do will I disturb the nest?

Can anyone give any advice?

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

Jos Stratford said:
delaying a trim to that particular section of hedge can't be the end of the world to the neighbours, but it might well be to any eggs or chicks
Click to expand...

Hedges should not be cut between March and October for precisely this reason! Gardeners are no more exempt from this than farmers.
 
joannechattaway said:
Hedges should not be cut between March and October for precisely this reason! Gardeners are no more exempt from this than farmers.
Click to expand...

Between March and October?! These grow very quickly (Leylandii) and if I didn't cut them all Spring and Summer I'd have no garden left, and neither would my neighbour!
:eek!:

I think I'll talk to my neighbour and, hopefully, leave the affected bit.

Thanks for the advice.
 
2520years said:
Between March and October?! These grow very quickly (Leylandii) and if I didn't cut them all Spring and Summer I'd have no garden left, and neither would my neighbour!
:eek!:

I think I'll talk to my neighbour and, hopefully, leave the affected bit.

Thanks for the advice.
Click to expand...

These are the rules set out by Defra. Leylandii are a completely unsuitable specie for most gardens in the UK, non native and growing over 1 metre per year....best to remove them altogether in the winter and plant something more suitable.
 
joannechattaway said:
Leylandii are a completely unsuitable specie for most gardens in the UK, non native and growing over 1 metre per year....best to remove them altogether in the winter and plant something more suitable.
Click to expand...

They do however provide a good hedge that gives privacy and also provides cover for nesting Blackbirds, etc. And a Dunnock it would seem.
 
Jos Stratford said:
They do however provide a good hedge that gives privacy and also provides cover for nesting Blackbirds, etc. And a Dunnock it would seem.
Click to expand...

This is so ... my parents garden is 'walled' with high Leylandii on 2 sides - not only is it every year home to nesting Blackbirds and Dunnocks, but also lots of Greenfinch (the whole of one side of the garden was positively trilling when I was up there a few days ago - it also provides an effective windbreak for her young birch trees and fruit trees, shade for the hydrangeas and foxgloves, a 'secretive' tunnel run for her local foxes and provides a living boundary to the garden which is far more environmentally sound than any man made fencing and allows toads and frogs to wander at will throughout the neighbourhood! (it's a very large garden)

She has the tops annually lobbed off prior to nesting season each year. (end of Feb.)
 
I was twice under pressure to replace them with a fence. I promised to keep them neat though because the birds seem to like them. I can't afford to replace them, it's a fairly long boundary and would cost £100s. There has to be some balance.
 
2520years said:
I was twice under pressure to replace them with a fence. I promised to keep them neat though because the birds seem to like them. I can't afford to replace them, it's a fairly long boundary and would cost £100s. There has to be some balance.
Click to expand...

A hedge, regardless of whether native or not, is always going to be better than a fence. I'd say trim as much as you can, talk to your neighbour abut the bit with the nest, then do the rest after any birds have had time to fledge.
 
2520years, you may well have other nesting birds in the Leylandii (it's hard to see anything in the dark dense foliage!) that might only come to 'surface' once you start trimming, by then it may be too late to prevent disturbance. The NFU advice to farmers by the way, is not to trim hedges between March and September, I know these hedges grow fast, but it really would be better to avoid any trimming now then do a good prune once any birds have fledged in September. Perhaps you could explain to your neighbours the situation re: nesting birds and the Law (blame it on a non-existent contract gardener who refuses to prune this time of year for fear of breaking law and the hedge is too high to trim yourself! ;))

ps. Apologise profusely and say you will be better prepared next season!
 
Last edited:
Hi 2520years,

I go with all those who advise you do nothing at all now as you really don't know just how many nests you may disturb/ruin. Have a friendly chat with the neighbour as Deborah suggests and promise to have a real go at the hedge in September/October, trimming it right back; then do it again next and every September/October.

I agree with keeping the hedge and would imagine you get a lot of Birds nesting in there each year. Good luck with the neighbours - and the law!

Sue.
 
Well it seems like you lot know what you're talking about. ;) It looks like we've got a pair of blackbirds nesting further up!

I'll have to leave the hedge as best I can. Does anyone know when dunnock and blackbird chicks fledge? I know the hedge will look a real mess by September, and it's visible to more than just the couple next-door. I suppose you'll all say leave it until September regardless, but next-door-but-one is a gardener and in our neighbourhood everyone's garden is immaculate. I know I'll be under pressure in a couple of months.:-C
 
Hi 2500

While breeding generally starts in April, nesting/fledging could continue into mid-summer.

Blackbird: commonly have second clutches (soon after the first) leaving the male to feed the fledgings. If the first brood was successful, she will use the same nest.

Incubation: 12-14 days Fledging: 10-19 days

Dunnock: Very interesting as where there is one nest, there is often more close by - Female Dunnock often have more than one paternal male (polyandrous) and males often mate and participate in upbringing with more than one female (polygynous) breeding/raising young can be a 'communal' activity, so if you have found one Dunnock nest in your leylandii, you could have more!

Dunnock can have 2-3 clutches.

Incubation: 12-13 days Fledging: 11-12 days

Unless you know when each pair mated, when eggs were laid etc, and the timing of following clutches it would be difficult to say when breeding was over. There is some suggestion birds are breeding earlier due to milder winters but I'd wait at least until the early September before you attempt any pruning as second and third clutches may not occur immediately if earlier ones were not successful (ie. new mates, new nesting sites could occur after failed earlier attempts, thus occur later rather than earlier - in other words, even if your current nesters have finished by May, you could yet have more arrivals!!).
 
2520years said:
Well it seems like you lot know what you're talking about. ;) It looks like we've got a pair of blackbirds nesting further up!

I'll have to leave the hedge as best I can. Does anyone know when dunnock and blackbird chicks fledge? I know the hedge will look a real mess by September, and it's visible to more than just the couple next-door. I suppose you'll all say leave it until September regardless, but next-door-but-one is a gardener and in our neighbourhood everyone's garden is immaculate. I know I'll be under pressure in a couple of months.:-C
Click to expand...

Hi again 2520 years,

I honestly sympathise with your situation, but have you tried telling them that you know the nests are in there and that Blackbirds have more than 1 clutch a season? The main thing to impress upon them is that it's against the law for anyone to disturb those nests...or any other nests and that is the reason you won't disturb them until the season is over! There's a very hefty fine or imprisonment if you do so! Then add on...."but just as soon as it is, I'll be up there and cut it back in time for autumn - I promise!"

Remember this much (and I mean it in the nicest way), it only takes one of your neighbours to be a Birdwatcher and be watching the Birds with mouths full of food coming and going - then to see you cut the hedge to ANY degree....and report you and it's YOU that's in big trouble - not any of those impatient neighbours!

Good luck, Sue.
 
Thanks for your help. I'll have a word with the neighbours as soon as I get the opportunity. Next year I'll get a :cat: ;)
 
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