After last weeks Big Bird Watch, the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust and the Village Primary School in Thornaby are taking it to the next stage. They are taking part in the British Trust for Ornithology’s National Nest Box week. Pupils will spend the afternoon putting together a number of bird boxes as part of their Eco-school work. The pupils will get their screw drivers and hammers out and using kits make homes for Blue Tits, Great Tits and House Sparrows.
During the Big Bird Watch pupils got really excited, using binoculars to see a number of common birds in their school grounds, but the highlights included a small flock of Long–tailed Tits, a Sparrowhawk and over 40 starlings gathering, probably getting ready to joining the murmuration over at Portrack Marsh. The project is part of the biodiversity and schools grounds section of Eco-schools Award, over the next year the school plan to do a number of improvements for Biodiversity. The bird boxes will be put up around the schools and monitored by pupils hopefully increasing species count on the site.
Sarah Barry the River Tees Rediscovered Project officer (Wings over the Tees) for the Trust said “It is great to get schools involved in providing homes for birds in their school grounds. The project with volunteers has already put up bird boxes for various species on a several sites in the Tees Valley including for Tawny Owl, Little Owls, Kestrel Blue Tit Great Tit and tree sparrow”
The Village Primary School is Tees Valley Wildlife Trust Growing Wild School and you can find out more about this and other Trust projects by visiting our website www.teeswildlife.org or ringing the Trust on 01287 636382.