Last year we had a male Wren busying himself in our back garden for some time.

We kept seeing him going back and forth with nesting materials such as dry leaves etc. Many of these dwarfed the Wren making us wonder how he managed to fly carrying them in his mouth, but fly he did time and time again.

It seems the male builds the basic structure with more robust materials and if a female accepts the nest she then lines it with feathers and anything else that creates a warm, cosy interior. This is also signalling to the male she has accepted him as a mate.

Last year he had no takers but this year he's had more success with this nest.

We now have an occupied nest with both the female and male going back and forth with food for their brood.

We initially worked out that both parents are feeding the brood by how they entered the nest. The male has the habit or technique of landing on the birdbath, then the bamboo cladding, before entering the nest. We know this is the male because we watched him throughout his nest building period.

The female flies straight into the nest. She somehow curves her flight into the nest with an ease that is enjoyable to watch. She is so good at it that sometimes, while the male has reached his bamboo cladding stage she flies right past him straight into the nest and he then has to queue.

What surprised us is where he chose to build the nest.

The nest is situated in the dead grass that hangs down. I have kept telling myself I should tidy it up a bit, but am glad I didn't now.

Quite by chance we provided the right habitat where a Wren likes to nest. Along with that our garden and the wooded area connected to the Industrial Units behind us is full of insects and spiders, the food they prefer.

Food, Water and Shelter are priorities to all wildlife. Habitats also play a big part in where they like to be and they can be very selective at times, but on saying that they are also opportunistic and if it ticks the boxes they often don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Obviously this was the case with the Wrens in our garden.

Here's a link to a picture of a Wren along with more information.

As is often the case while we were out the young have flown the roost, so we are keeping our eyes open hoping to catch sight of the fledglings.
 

While visiting a friends home I found this scene in their back garden.

As can be seen a Blue Tit has nested in the box its perched on. A very simple example from amongst the many types of bird nest boxes but perfectly acceptable to these Blue Tits.

But what about the box in the background?

You have to look closely to see that White Tailed Bees have made this their nest box. A bird nest box it may have been in the past, but for now its a Bee House.

Clearly it is the wildlife occupying our gardens that make the final decision as to what type of nest box it will be used as. Regarding this situation I think this is a double treat to any wildlife gardener.