Over 100 Bird and Bat Boxes Now Erected Within the Pinewoods
Members and volunteers from the Pinewoods Conservation Group (PCG) were joined by 20th Harrogate Scouts and staff from RHS Harlow Carr as part of a National Nest Box Week.
Bat boxes build by 20th Harrogate Scouts and bird boxes donated by RHS Harlow Carr were added to the various boxes already in place. This now makes a total of over 100 boxes now available for use within the Pinewoods.
A recent exercise to clean the current bird boxes showed that over 80% of the nesting boxes had been used during the previous year. The bi-annual survey of the bat boxes funded by the PCG also showed continued increase presence of bats within the woods.
PCG Committee member Geoff Scurrah commented:
“It has taken us a number of years to get to this number of boxes with a lot of work from committee members and volunteers. However, that hard work is paying off with the high usage we are seeing of the bird boxes and increasing numbers of bats within the Pinewoods.”
Andrew Willocks who leads on wildlife initiatives at RHS Harlow Carr added
"We were really pleased to be able to support the Pinewoods Conservation Group with the donation of nesting boxes and to assist the volunteers in getting them erected. We know from the inspections of boxes within the gardens numbers of birds and bats in the area are increasing that is encouraging to see."
The PCG currently ensures that a number of bird feeders within the woods are refilled on a regular basis – often daily! Further work is planned by the group to further and increase bio-diversity within the Pinewoods over this year.
