This box was made in 1996 for a love bird. It is made of very thick, probably prewar (1940-1945) boards that I found at the old part of the Minervalaan in Amsterdam. I placed it in this oak on 2 May 2003, close to box no. 19. Here it remained for ten years. Autumn 2013 it fell down. Picture from a distance (on the background box no. 10). On 14 June 2003 young great tits. In 2004 the box remained empty. In 2005 the box was occupied by starlings. In 2008 probably great tits and in 2009 starlings again. And in 2010 and the years thereafter probably again starlings, see picture of 5 April 2010. On 26 October 2013 I placed the box elsewhere. Picture. diameter entrance hole: 5,5 cm, floor: 14 by 16 cm, distance floor-entrance hole: 21 cm

21. Owl box

This box I built in 2014 for my garden in Amsterdam. It was never used. On New Year's Day 2018 I put it in a nice oak near a clearfelled area of woodland. On 30 December 2018 I made this picture of the inside. And a picture of the inside near the entrance. I suspect a Stone Marten uses the box occasionally. I don't know how, but the Stone Marten disappeared and stock doves occupied the box. On 27 April 2019 I saw six juveniles in a beautiful nest On 18 March I saw a breeding stock dove. It flew away and I saw two eggs. Picture 22 March 2020. diameter entrance hole: 13 cm

22. Great tit box

Since 2014/2015 maintenance by the IVN Institute for Nature Education and Sustainability is lacking. Many of the nestboxes in the wood are unsafe, sometimes without a roof. In the lane next to the manor I replaced three of these boxes. This box was placed on 12 April 2019. I put my experience of the last twenty years in building this box. The box can handle thick growth of the tree and consists of two parts. See picture. The other two boxes are made of woodcrete. See boxes no. 23 and 24. On 18 March 2020 I opened the box. The box was empty. On 11 February 2023 box cleaned, two superimposed nests of great tit removed.

23. Blue tit box

This box was placed on 12 April 2019. The next day it was visited by a blue tit. On 27 April 2019 a pied flycatcher was singing in the tree, a common oak in the lane near the manor. However, blue tits occupied the box. Picture 25 May 2019

24. Flycatcher box

This box was placed on 12 April 2019, in the same lane as box no. 23. On 25 May 2019 a pied flycatcher was feeding. On 18 March 2020 I cleaned the box after removing the nest.

                                                                                                                 --- The End --- 

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