Country diary: There’s no better plasterer than a nuthatch | Nic Wilson

Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire: I’m watching one prepare her nest, daubing and filling every gap with whatever claggy muck she can get her bill onThe bowling club car park is almost deserted. Above my car, three wood pigeons peck at ash flowers that hang like clusters of tiny fists, while I watch the trees through my binoculars from the driver’s seat, hoping I’ve arrived in time to catch a “mud‑dabber” in action for the third consecutive spring.A rapid “Hwit-hwit-hwit” call gives the nuthatch (Sitta europaea) away. But it isn’t until she lands upside down on the trunk of a nearby oak that I can admire her blue-grey back, soft cinnamon belly and black go-faster eye stripe. As with all nuthatch pairs, the female is in charge of nest-building, and she’s already started plastering the entrance to an old cavity in the trunk using pellets of mud. The wound callus around the hole is lined with what looks like cob walling, peppered with shallow depressions made by her bill. Continue reading...

Apr 8, 2025 - 08:13

Country diary: There’s no better plasterer than a nuthatch | Nic Wilson

Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire: I’m watching one prepare her nest, daubing and filling every gap with whatever claggy muck she can get her bill on

The bowling club car park is almost deserted. Above my car, three wood pigeons peck at ash flowers that hang like clusters of tiny fists, while I watch the trees through my binoculars from the driver’s seat, hoping I’ve arrived in time to catch a “mud‑dabber” in action for the third consecutive spring.

A rapid “Hwit-hwit-hwit” call gives the nuthatch (Sitta europaea) away. But it isn’t until she lands upside down on the trunk of a nearby oak that I can admire her blue-grey back, soft cinnamon belly and black go-faster eye stripe. As with all nuthatch pairs, the female is in charge of nest-building, and she’s already started plastering the entrance to an old cavity in the trunk using pellets of mud. The wound callus around the hole is lined with what looks like cob walling, peppered with shallow depressions made by her bill. Continue reading...