Subsidised by funding from the Woodland Countryside Stewardship scheme, the boxes were assembled from scratch from a design widely used by wildlife trusts across the country.

As well as helping assemble the small bird boxes, armed with drills and screws, Geoff Taylor and Ellen Morozov also built two barn owl boxes. Geoff, a ‘veteran’ volunteer of over thirteen years is something of a DIYer whereas post graduate volunteer Ellen had never actually used a drill before so felt a great sense of achievement when she saw these specialist boxes take shape.

It is hoped that the new small bird boxes, installed on the Trust’s Arnold Memorial, Briarwood Banks, Tony’s Patch, Juliet’s Wood, East Chevington and Fencerhill Wood reserves will provide nesting and roosting opportunities for an array of birds including tree sparrows.

The new barn owl boxes will be installed on reserves to the south and the north of the county.

Elsewhere, at Northumberlandia, a team of volunteers assembled and installed a further forty bird boxes to attract tree sparrows to the woodland area of the Blagdon Lane site.