 Diamonds Are For Feathers It's hard for me to tell, at times, when I'm on the verge of a good idea, especially when it comes to nest box design. Earlier in the year I went on and on about a trailer shaped nest box I thought was the perfect design and built a number of those boxes. They were the flavour of the spring and there was nothing wrong with them. I also built many boxes based on the flat roof sloping to the front nest box. Essentially this shape is like an outdoor toilet with the hole drilled in what would be the back of a typical toilet. Outdoor toilets rarely have the roof sloping to the front for obvious reasons but these nest boxes do. The best one can say about this design is that it's easy to mass produce and there are no quirky design problems to deal with. They're functional and easy to clean. So you might think I'd leave box design at that. But recently after watching the third of three happy Tree Swallows couples in as many years, raise their broods in a somewhat radical one-of-a-kind design I built three years ago, I was moved to recreate that style - eight times to be exact, and I'm not sure whether I'm finished yet. Back then, on a cold fall day I found myself with several similar boards of the same length. For some reason I nailed them together in a diamond shape and put suitable faces on both ends. What I had was a box that could not stand on its own on the work table because the bottom came to a point. I decided that the best way to hang this box was to attach a piece of wire to the roof at the front and back and let it swing from a sturdy branch. I marched off to the nearest suitable poplar tree a soon as the box was built and there it hung through the winter. The nesting season passed. When I checked it in the fall, not an easy task because I had to remove the screwed on roof board, I saw that the box was full of grass and feathers and appeared to have been the launching site of a new brood of Tree Swallows. That answered the question of whether a floor which came to a point would deter birds. I removed all the old nest material and rehung the box. The next spring the box was used again. Last winter, I got wind that the fenceline near the nest box would receive extensive work, so I took the box down and moved it across the pasture to another poplar tree. This summer that box was once again being used. I shouldn't just credit the three happy Swallow couples for my recent building spree because it was the serendipitous acquisition of several widths of planking that inspired my productivity. Over the course of several weeks, and several trips to the dump, I acquired wide stained cedar boards, fragrant solid pine boards and an unpainted length of cedar. For a few days this pile of boards did not speak to me although I foresaw the wood had some future as nest boxes. I did not want to rush into a design that used up the boards but resulted in a less than satisfying form. So I waited. One day, quite out of the blue, inspired, I constructed a diamond design box in precisely a manner as if I had given a lot of thought to arranging the materials. I was very pleased with the look and use of the boards. Unfortunately my enthusiasm resulted in later regrets. I sped ahead and built six more boxes before realizing the boxes needed clean out flaps on the side. I would have to remove one of the roof boards to clean the bird box. Still I was pleased with the look. A little while later some eccentric-looking clear poplar planks fell into my hands via my usual supplier, now I had more face boards. The following three diamond boxes received easy-to-open side flaps. One of the design challenges of a diamond-shaped box is a roof line of two boards that meet at a right angle. The two boards must seal well enough to protect from incoming rain. I can't imagine this type of roof doing a good enough job so I cut strips from plastic sledding carpets, discarded at the dump, and make a cover for the peak of my roof. There is probably a technical name for the roof cap, I use a bent piece of plastic nailed to the roof line. This feature works beautifully, it is a mat red colour and looks great as an accent to the boards of brick stain, the face of pine or poplar, and the sides of cedar. I have now completed nine diamond nest boxes. I planned to hang them by wire in a similar fashion as the mother box across the pasture. Yesterday I screwed one to a fence post by the strip of wood on its back. It looks good just sitting empty facing the west pasture. Another winter will come and go before it receives interested clients but somehow, because it has already pleased me, it seems like a success. To e-mail Tom CLICK HERE To look at previous column CLICK HERE |
