Nest boxes

The only time that I've ever seen a small open fronted nest box actually used is when it was left in a garage on a shelf and used by a pied wagtail which flew into the garage through a broken window! I'm pretty sure that spotted flycatchers won't use them because they prefer to nest tucked away behind ivy or high up in a broken off branch stump, though in the conifer plantations such as Coed Glynaeron they nest tight up against the side of the main trunk where a few branches cluster together. Has anyone else ever had any luck with them?

We tried to encourage Willow Tits at Ty Rhyg by putting up boxes filled with sawdust, but they have ignored all the boxes for two seasons now, prefering to use a natural site instead. At the weekend a party of 7 newly independant juveniles turned up in one of the nets, so at this site they probably don't need artificial sites.

With the Kestrel boxes - another brood of 6 this year about to fledge any day now, but there hasn't been a huge uptake by Kestrels - but some of them are getting used by other species such as Stock Dove and Tawny Owl.