Solar camera at Wolf Fields

A solar-powered wildlife camera and boxes are being set up at A Rocha UK’s Wolf Fields community garden – to facilitate and film nest-building birds. And they’re just in time for National Nestbox Day on 14th February.

Education Officer David Melville – along with interns Adrianna Marling and Becky Vickers – recently visited the Southall project to set up the first of many bird boxes that A Rocha UK will be putting up around the site.

Requiring a degree of creativity and some unusual tree climbing, two boxes were set in place. One open-faced box was aimed at housing robins, and a close-faced box was intended for the local blue tit population. The boxes were placed in a north-easterly direction. That offered maximum comfort to the birds, avoiding both the harsh winds and the glare of the sun.

‘The blue tit box is especially exciting,’ said Adrianna Marling, ‘as it has the capability of housing a discrete, solar-powered wildlife camera. If the birds take to the box this season – which David thinks they surely will – then by next season the camera will be fitted, allowing A Rocha UK to capture and share footage of the birds in action.’

The camera is being set up at a feeding station, which is also on the site. More boxes will be installed this summer, in conjunction with a community event. ‘It will be an opportunity for locals to contribute to the development of Wolf Fields, while learning first-hand about the birds in their area,’ said David. (Photos: Adrianna Marling)