To Let, Small Summer House Near the Sea

Do you ever wonder how birds find their way to the bird houses we have in our gardens?  We have a battered bird box that is occupied each Spring by Blue Tits. Every year we watch with delight and fear as the baby birds take flight from the nesting box.  Some shoot out like little cannon balls, others bumble out of the box like Woodstock.  

You remember Woodstock,  he was Snoopy's little avian friend who often flew upside down.   I follow the Woodstocks around the garden and try to keep them safe from the ever present and menacing magpies.  Magpies will swoop on the fledglings and pluck them out of the air.  It's heartbreaking to watch the parent birds struggle to feed their large family only to see the little ones carried away the minute they emerge from the nesting box.   But that's too sad to dwell on...

So how do the birds find our bird boxes?   Perhaps they do a 'fly by' and see the garden and think 'Oh, that's a nice place with lots of convenient bird feeders.'

Maybe they choose gardens with lots of snails and bugs.  We certainly have a large population of slugs.  

Maybe they choose gardens with  fruit trees.  I often see the birds meticulously picking the aphids and spiders off the apple blossoms.  I am sure they choose their homes just like people do.  It's location, location, location.

I can't help but imagine an ad for our bird house:  To let, small but comfortable summer house, perfect for young families, near the sea, reasonable rates.  Enquire within.