Bird and bat nesting boxes installed in Barker's Wood

Alf Markham with the boxes

To celebrate National Nest Box Week (14 to 21 February), the Friends of Barker's Wood have installed ten bird and bat boxes in the community woodland just behind Birch Hill Hospital, off Starring Way. 

Installed on 18 February, the boxes were made by Alf Markham, one of the Friends who lives on the nearby estate.

The event is part of a larger project between the Friends, Rochdale Field Naturalists and Rochdale Ranger Service to increase the biodiversity of the woodland and to make it more accessible for the local community.

Established and developed by the British Trust of Ornithology, National Nest Box Week provides a welcome focus on nesting birds and encourages everyone to put up nest boxes in their local area in order to support the conservation of our breeding birds.