Lake District North West and Solway Coast an area of outstanding natural beauty Bird Project page. This page has been designed to let people coming to visit the holiday lets, know about a new project that has been undertaken within the gardens surrounding Huddlestone Cottage and The Hayloft from the end of February 2001.
Gardens are a most important habitat.
The total area of all gardens in Britain exceeds that of all nature reserves, and because man in general does not leave trees to decay, and as modern lifestyles are on the increase, many of the birds natural nesting sites are in decline. So nest-boxes placed in gardens can make a real difference to the success or failure of a breeding species in a given area, especially when accompanied by the regular supply of suitable food and water. In the wild, birds like tits, finches and blackbirds prefer to nest naturally in hollow tree-trunks, or in the cavities of rotten branches. The most common type is like the one pictured below to the right. In our garden we decided to put up this type of small bird boxes, to help and encourage more wildlife to visit the garden.