Eagerly anticipated by many, it is a thrilling moment when you first hear the distinctive screech or catch sight of the long, tapered wings of the first swifts arriving for the summer. For thousands of years they have looped to the British Isles from Africa to raise the next generation, taking advantage of the long daylight hours in the north and the opportunity to scour the skies for insects from dawn to dusk. Being fitted in the non-load bearing outside skin (typically of a cavity wall), no lintel is required, nor any modification to the building design. It is not advised for boxes to be fitted within 750mm of windows or lintels. If you are fitting clusters of boxes together (mainly swift boxes) it is advised lintels should be fitted. It’s fine to fit bat houses at any time of the year, however it makes most sense to complete your installation by early Springtime, as it will stand a chance of attracting bats emerging from their local hibernation, also other species who have wintered abroad.

By providing an environment in which the birds feel warm and safe, that’s large enough for them to move around and raise a family, and by using an entrance aperture which is only just large enough for the target species to use, thereby eliminating use by larger (possibly predatory) birds e.g. magpies. Bats do some vital work in our ecosystem, from eating insects and bugs (the UK’s bat species eat nothing larger), thereby offering crops and gardeners some assistance, to pollinating plants. In fact, many plants which bees tend to avoid will be attractive to bats for nectar. Bat guano is a terrific fertiliser too, so bats are worth cultivating. Originally bats would have lived in trees and other natural shelters, however more recently they have evolved to live in older houses, churches (as in ‘bats in the belfry’), barns and other farm buildings. Modern construction materials and methods offer fewer (if any) opportunities for bats to roost, so it’s really important to make special provision in new developments in the right locations.

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Installing a hedgehog house/box in the garden provides them with a safe place to shelter and hibernate through the winter. Whether this is to support biodiversity net gain on a new project or simply within your garden we can supply a quality, long-lasting hedgehog house. Bats like to choose from a variety of roosts as the seasons change – they are mammals which need to avoid losing energy unnecessarily to thermo-regulation. Position your bat homes somewhere between 3m and 6m (10′ to 20′) off the ground and in various aspects, South and East facing especially. Select locations furthest from trees and other vantage points that could be used by potential predators. You will also want to avoid siting bat homes above windows and doors. Bats feed on insects and also need water to drink, so these are also important considerations. In the UK, bat houses should generally face East, South or West, and positioned such that they are in sunlight for several hours a day to keep the roosting area warm. Many of the UK’s garden birds are struggling to maintain numbers, house sparrows being an obvious species that has suffered a serious decline in recent times. Providing bird houses is hugely important for giving such birds the best chance of rearing their young and surviving the winter in as safe an environment as possible. Another relatively little known effect of encouraging songbirds is the beneficial effect on our own (human) wellbeing, despite many studies over the years which have proven a link between audible bird song and good mental health. One example is ‘ Urban Mind: Using Smartphone Technologies to Investigate the impact of Nature on Mental Wellbeing in Real Time’, published in BioScience 10th January 2018.

The fitted bird or bat box is not deep enough to bridge the cavity and will not affect the insulation properties of the building. A brilliant idea to help some of our declining bird populations and give an added enjoyment to your home!The body is made from recycled polypropylene – an extremely tough and durable material used in construction for cavity trays and damp proof courses. This means the box lets in minimal amounts of moisture in adverse weather conditions making it such a highly desirable dry winter roost. As the plastic will be exposed to virtually no sunlight (if any), degradation is effectively eliminated. As a result the boxes are expected to last for the lifetime of the building in which they are housed – an important feature in terms of environmental planning.