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I am fond of the Nuthatch.

My first encounter with them in the reserve was about 4 years ago and the population was not as high as it is now.. The mature woodland trees give the Nuthatch somewhere to store his peanuts and sees and is his natural habitat. (So to get Nuthatches I think you would need to grow big mature trees.)

Last November 2010 I was delighted to discover that four of the Reserves boxes had been used by Nuthatches. The nests are easy to identify being mostly leaves but what fascinates me is their industry in using a nesting box  and or presumably holes in trees. Each nesting box  was plastered on the inside and outside with a hard caked mud mixes with small pebbles and short  twigs blocking up any small gaps left by the carpenter. It was hard to remove the deposit from the front of the box and I began to wonder is it had any added secretions added to it.

Does anyone know if this is the case?

So our woodland is now alive with Nuthatches and I estimate there is at least 16 here and would like to think there are more as I often see two at a time.

They can be seen every day if peanuts are on the menu, you stand back a few yards and wait.

 I have never seen such a fussy bird. The Tits will swoop down steal a nut and be of in a trice, our Nuthatch however I have observed will take his time to pick up what he thinks is the best nut, often scattering the seeds in a furious activity to the woodland floor when making his choice. He then fly's up  into the canopy selects a crevice in the bark and hides the food, gently covering it with moss or lichen then comes down for another.

He is also a bully scaring off any blue tits.

Nuthatch at Chard