And now, as the weather turns warmer, it’s not just humans who view houses with the thought of moving Across the wildlife charity’s five Druridge Bay reserves, birds from tree sparrows to tawny owls have been spotted fluttering around the boxes trying to decide which one to make their home.

Of particular interest has been a tawny owl that has been visiting the Hauxley reserve over the past week.

Remaining on the footpath and at a respectable distance from the owl to minimize disturbance, visitors have been rewarded with great views of it resting in a selection of trees - scoping out a des res before the nesting season begins.

Tawny owls are classified in the UK as Amber under the Birds of Conservation Concern 5: the Red List for Birds (2021), so the wildlife charity is urging anybody hoping to spot a tawny owl on any of its sites to maintain their distance from them in case they are scared away.

Funding from the £750,000 Biodiversity Boost project has also enabled the project team to install five more cameras in the newly installed bird boxes on the Hauxley reserve. Now visitors to the award-winning site can watch all the action on a new television screen in the Hauxley Wildlife Discovery Centre’s Lookout Café, in addition to the existing screen in the reception area.

For anybody who doesn’t want to walk around the site, or who may find it difficult, what better way to see what’s going on around them with a cup of tea and something tasty from the menu.

Alex Lister, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Druridge Bay Landscapes Manager says:

“The grant from the Species Survival Fund is enabling us to do wonderful things across Druridge Bay - and it’s not just the big things that are being made possible with the funding. Being able to install the fifty bird boxes on our reserve to encourage bird breeding and boost bird numbers is great.

“We also have a number of visitors to our Hauxley reserve who can’t walk around very easily, so for them, the new cameras in the bird boxes and the screen in the café while they enjoy their lunch or afternoon tea are brilliant.”