Some species nest more than once a year, so a close watch must be kept for the first batch of new fliers. Some nest box users can be quite secretive. The flickers at the back of the orchard fooled us until the young began clamouring to be fed at dawn. One of our swallow boxes last year hosted a colony of wild bees. For more details on barred owl, wood duck, bluebird, and purple martin houses write to the Department of Natural Resources at P.O. Box 68, Truro, NS, B2N 5B8.
Bats are our only defence against night-time biting insects, which include hordes of mosquitoes.
In the next issue we'll explain how to build a bat-room.