nature is cruel...

... sometimes.

I'm a nature lover - there's no denying that fact.  From the smallest creature or plant to the biggest living things on our planet, I am fascinated by them all.

And in the past couple of years when my photography choices have changed from land and seascapes to exploring the world at my feet, I've developed an even greater love for the joys the natural world affords us.

My daughter and I are regular visitors to our little patch of local woodland, and we've put up bird feelers there which, judging by the frequency we have to refill them, are greatly appreciated by the birds (and probably the squirrels too!).

Last spring we placed a nesting box in one of the trees there.  It was one with a small entrance hole designed specifically for those smaller birds.  We put our wildlife camera there but after a couple of months it was clear no birds were in residence so we moved it on to a new location.

And then we suspected the box was occupied as we could hear activity in it as we were passing.  We didn't want to get too close though so we didn't replace our camera there.  And it's probably just as well, as we'd have no doubt become attached to whatever was nesting there.

Why do I say just as well though?

Well, last week when we visited, it was evident that the box and its inhabitants had likely been predated.  The small entrance hole had been pecked or hacked at until it was large enough for a much bigger bird, likely a woodpecker or jay, to enter and predate any chicks inside.

But this is just the circle of life in the natural world.  The raider's chicks were probably fed well and the smaller inhabitants, well they probably moved on and had another brood.  So, you can't demonise the predator - they and their family need to eat too.

But what to do with the box?  We'll bring it back home and see if we can replace the front.  Only this time we'll reinforce the small entrance hole either with some steel or harder wood.  And then we'll put it back down there only in a different location.  

But we still won't point our wildlife camera at it!

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Want to know why I still sometimes use a near twenty-year-old camera?  Well just click below and I'll reveal all...