We are in the middle of bird nesting season and it is fascinating and a joy to watch the local birds courting, fighting, gathering material, building nests, and coming and going with food for the chicks.
With so much habitat lost to intensive farming, deforestation, and human expansion, we must make huge efforts to protect the remaining wildlife and habitat. It is against the law to damage or destroy any wild bird nests (wildlife and countryside act of 1981) while it is in use or being built. This means that unless you can clearly see that every part of a tree is free of nests then tree work, especially the removal of trees and hedge cutting, should be carried out outside of bird nesting season. Checking for nests should include a visual inspection of the overall crown from ground level and checking thoroughly around the work site of the tree for nesting activity in brambles and shrubs or hollows in the ground and grass. An aerial inspection should also be carried out by climbing the tree to check in any holes, hollows and cracks for signs of recent activities from birds or bats. Natural England guidelines state that bird nesting season is officially from February until August! As contractors we must aim to avoid all negative impact to nesting birds and wildlife habitat in general.
Another massive difference we can make to preserving habitat is leaving dead wood. This might be leaving dead branches in a tree as long as they are safe. Or if a tree is dead/dying or unsafe (for example, most of our Ash trees are dying at the moment) it is best to leave as much of the tree standing. For example, it is not always necessary to cut down the whole tree, instead the tree can often be made safe by just removing branches and leaving the stem as a monolith. The tree is now safe because there are no branches that can fall off, and the tree has lost its sail area and leverage so it can stand there providing habitat in many forms. Ivy or Honeysuckle may grow up it, providing shelter and food for birds and flowers for pollinating insects. This monolith may already be, or will become, full of holes and features for birds, bats and other mammals to live in. Eventually it will rot and crumble (if it doesn’t grow back!). Dead-wood, whether standing or on the ground, is a vital part of the eco system for birds, mammals, invertebrates, and fungus. Nature isn’t neat.
One of the best things we can do to provide habitat is to plant more trees and hedges. Native trees and hedges provide the best habitat for our native wildlife.
(Photo taken from the fantastic book Nests by Susan Ogilvy)