[wyevilla]

Has anyone had any success with these things?

For the uninitiated they are effectively a woven bag of wicker, twig and straw. They have a hole, usually at the top and are supposed to provide a place for small birds to rest overnight.

I must admit I was highly skeptical. However, I was given three by my mother last winter. I duly put them up hanging from low branches of trees that make up our back hedge. I didn't really consider that they would fulfil their stated purpose. Indeed I thought that even if they did I'd never notice anyway. So resigned to this I put them up thinking that at least they would provide nesting material as they diintegrated.

Anyway back in June I was wandering around the garden on a stll evening just as it was turning dusk. I became aware that one of the pouches was swinging just a little more than it should as there was no wind. I got closer but couldn't see anything as the light was now beginning to fade fast. I went inside and found a torch and returned to the hedge.

I couldn't believe my eyes. 2 baby wrens - still with faint signs of the gape were sitting inside side-by-side. They returned for at least 2 more nights, then 1 on its own for a couple of nights and then no more.

We had had a wren nesting in an ivy-covered wall and I presume these were the offspring which were dispersing from the nest.

The moral of the story: don't look a gift pouch in the mouth.