I actually have a birds nest in my car, in between the bumper and the radiator. It\'s well hidden and I can\'t get to it without jacking up the car and removing the bottom (renault megane sport tourer). I noticed it because I see the same bird come out of nowhere every time I start the car.
Question is should I just leave it there? I\'m sort of a nature lover but this is taking the pink fluffy dice
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Well it's not uncommon for birds to build nests and then suddenly abandon them for some reason - possibly due to disturbance. This may well happen here and I'd be surprised if your tenant actually uses the nest for its true purpose (unless you hardly ever use the car that is). Just in case though I'd get rid of the nest before any eggs appear. Do it sooner rather than later so the bird has time to build another somewhere more suitable.
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I would have thought first broods are well under way now, and early layers are starting to think about a second? I don't suppose your visitor is a pigeon - they keep building until about August.
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No it isn't a pigeon, it's some sort of small tit. I feel guilty about evicting it but it could cause all sorts of problems later (excessive bird poo for a start)
I will see if I can persuade him to move on.
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Yes that makes sense. It'd be worth checking with a small 'dental' type mirror to see what's inside if you can. The difficult part will be if you find eggs/young since moving the nest under these circumstances will invariably cause them to be abandoned. It doesn't take a bird long to make a nest so and we have small birds making nests in our garden at the moment so you may be lucky and find it's still empty. Act quickly though! Good luck.
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Presumably a fly went through the grille and now your car is following the old rhyme.
"There was an old lady who swallowed a fly" etc etc?
Look out for the cow, I'd say.
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this may sound harsh but..if there are eggs,count them, tits usually have clutches of 4-6 eggs before they start "sitting" if there is only 1 or 2, harden your heart and dispose of them, it will be kinder at this stage. if there is 6 or more, there is a possibility that the bird has started incubating, if that is the case, the damage will already have been done, i.e excessive chilling during car journeys, extended time of bird off nest etc. unfortunately, i cant see you saving the situation, unless you are prepared to use public transport for the next 6 weeks.
billy. (ps, i like birds really)
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I thought disturbing nesting birds was an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act
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I thought disturbing nesting birds was an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act
Meanwhile, back in the real world.....
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Meanwhile, back in the real world.....
Ours or the birds?
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Ours or the birds?
Sorry, I was more abrupt than usual there, wasn't I.
Ok, every time I start my lawnmower I disturb nesting birds. Every time one of the neighbourhood cats wanders through our orchard I see distressed birds fleeing their nests. Real world instances that hardly warrant prosecution. Not even sure if it actually is an offence, but my ignorance doesn't excuse my earlier rudeness.
To the case in hand; In this instance the car has already been driven with the nest in-situ. Any damage has already been done (alternate cooling from windflow and heating from rad) so the removal of the nest asap is the kindest option and will give the parents the best chance of raising another brood this year.
ND
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Sorry ND - I had thought it more a case of an impudent patently than an abrupt No Dosh...
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Alright it is sorted out, I went to the dealers and got the front opened. The nest came out and I had 5 eggs in there, I took them home and hung around the car hoping that the parents would come and say hi and I could show them the new location. Anyway they never turned up so I took the nest home and looked at the eggs through a halogen lamp, they were pretty much clear. Therefore I did the decent thing and crushed them very rapidly with a kitchen bowl.
Not proud of that but it couldn't be any worse than hatching and having nobody there to feed you. Besides as one poster said chances are they were already dead with the cold winds and rad heat.
Thanks for all the feedback.
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I think you've done the right & humane thing, I have to say. It's a shame that it doesn't always feel that way.
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Don't worry about it PM - nature's cruel and nobody was to blame.
Last year we had Blackbirds nesting in one of our hedges. I rigged up a remote PIR controlled colour camera right aove the nest, connected it to our video recorder and we sat back waiting for footage of the 4 eggs hatching. One by one they hatched, the female then ate the broken shells and would leave the nest only for the male to appear, inspect the nest and take away the newly hatched chicks one after another. It was truly heartbreaking and at one point we wanted to intervene but then discovered that it was too late in the year for the young to survive and the male Blackbird was simply acting accordingly.
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