Nestbox Update

The news from the nextboxes is somewhat mixed. First the good news. The Starlings are continuing to bring in grasses and a few feathers to the box on the side of my house and the nest is really beginning to take shape.

Starling nest

Now to the not so good news. On checking the Collared Dove nest at my mum's home yesterday I quickly noticed that it was empty and the adult bird had gone.

Empty Collared Dove nest

What happened to the nest is unclear.  I checked around the ground underneath the nest to see if the eggs had fallen, but there was no sign of them. Predation by a predator, possibly a Magpie, seems to me the most likely reason for this nest's failure.

I'll enter the information into the BTO's Nesbox Challenge website and hopefully the birds might try again later in the year. I'll keep you informed of any dvelopments.